


We Made it Through the Rain

by tcs1121



Series: Mamba [2]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:53:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24458500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tcs1121/pseuds/tcs1121
Summary: "I get congratulated for every little, normal thing, like getting toothpaste on my toothbrush instead of all over my clothes. I get recognized and thanked a dozen times a day, but Jared, you know what? I don't feel strong or brave, and I sure as hell don't feel lucky. I feel damaged, like, everywhere. Every piece of me is moving in a way that hurts. I don't deserve their appreciation, I don't want their platitudes, I just want to be normal and not broken all to bits."~~*~~*~~
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Series: Mamba [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766572
Comments: 50
Kudos: 128
Collections: Supernatural and J2 Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Untrue story. Character names are being used without permission. No money changes hands.
> 
> ~~*~~*~~Special Thanks to~~*~~*~~  
> My longtime friend and beta kee  
> To my hard working artist bluefire986  
> Artist Masterpost is [HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Supernatural_and_J2_Big_Bang_2020/works/24931246)
> 
> To Wendy. Our tireless moderator for the SPN J2 Big Bang year after year after year. Thank you, Wendy !  
> ~~*~~*~~
> 
>  **A/N 1.** I suggest you read [Marconi Plays the Mamba](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19243636/chapters/45760189) for the full context. It's a fun story. Some of the early dialogue is straight from Marconi, but this story is from Jared's point of view.  
>  **A/N 2.** This is Jensen's rescue plus the four-month recovery/rehab left out of the original story. It is all Hurt!Jensen/Caring!Jared all the time.  
>  **A/N 3.** This timestamp begins during the storm, seconds before the defenestration. I can't help it. I love that word and I probably won't ever be able to use it in a story again.

**Title:** We Made it Through the Rain  
**Author:** tcs1121  
**Artist:** bluefire986  
**Characters and Pairing:** Jensen/Jared, Felicia Day, DJ Qualls, Chad Michael Murry, Misha Collins, Osric Chau, Jim Beaver, OCs  
**Cameos and mentions:** Genevieve Cortese, Rob Benedict, Alona Tal, Aliana Huffman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Bryan Norcross  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Genre:** J2 AU, hurt/comfort. Timestamp to my 2019 Big Bang Marconi Plays the Mamba. This timestamp is pure, self-indulgent, Jensen hurt/Jared comfort.  
**Word Count:** ~30,120  
**Beta:** kee, who understands me and makes me better. Cheers bb!  
**Warnings:** H/C with an NC-17 rating (and some humor)

**Disclaimer:** Untrue story. Character names are being used without permission. No money changes hands.

**A/N 1.** I suggest you read Marconi Plays the Mamba for the full context. It's a fun story. Some of the early dialogue is straight from Marconi, but this story is from Jared's point of view.  
**A/N 2.** This is Jensen's rescue plus the four-month recovery/rehab left out of the original story. It is all Hurt!Jensen/Caring!Jared all the time.  
**A/N 3.** This timestamp begins during the storm, seconds before the defenestration. I can't help it. I love that word and I probably won't ever be able to use it in a story again. 

**Summary:**  
"I get congratulated for every little, normal thing, like getting toothpaste on my toothbrush instead of all over my clothes. I get recognized and thanked a dozen times a day, but Jared, you know what? I don't feel strong or brave, and I sure as hell don't feel lucky. I feel damaged, like, everywhere. Every piece of me is moving in a way that hurts. I don't deserve their appreciation, I don't want their platitudes, I just want to be normal and not broken all to bits."

~~*~~*~~

~~*~~*~~

We Made it Through the Rain

~~*~~*~~

"Felicia, have you talked to Jared?"

"Still trying Jensen."

" _Keep_ trying." Jensen's voice shouted through the speakers at the storm-ravaged WBB studio.

Jared was in the control room with the station's staff. They were huddled on the floor in the heart of the building while the wind raged around them. Jensen continued broadcasting, shouting through the storm. Jared's heart hurt hearing the fear in Jensen's voice, begging Jared to stay safe. 

"Winter Park! Winter Park, seek shelter, _now!_ "

_Shit, Jensen lives in Winter Park._

Windows were shattering and the television station's roof groaned. Jared heard popping sounds. 

_Get out of there, Jensen! Go to ground._

Jensen's voice rose. "Take cover in the lowest floor of your house! Innermost room, _away from windows!_ Move away from trees! Away from _power lines!_ Go, go, _go!"_

Through the live feed, Jared heard glass breaking, metal crunching, and a deafening roar. Amid the cacophony, he swore he heard Jensen gasp. And then, nothing but white noise.

"What happened? _Where is he?"_ Jared shouted to Chad, "Get him back. Get Jensen on the air, _now."_

The studio was hissing with the static left in the wake of Jensen's broadcast. The winds outside howled as hailstones slammed into the building.

"Misha, help Chad get Jensen's live-feed running!" Jared couldn't think past the fact that needed to hear Jensen on the air.

Misha pulled out his iPad and hurried over to Chad. 

"Offline. He's offline." Chad shouted. He spun a knob and keyed in a code. "I can't get him back up."

Misha sat at the keyboard, typing furiously.

"Get him back, Misha. _Get him back."_

Misha and Chad looked at each other. "There's no signal, Jared," Misha said. 

"No, _no_ , you and Chad get Jensen's live stream up again. Reboot the whole goddamn system, unplug the whole fucking building if you have to, but get him live and on the air, _now!"_

"Jayman, we can't. He's gone dark.

"He's right, Jared. There's nothing being broadcast. Jensen's lines are out of commission."

"No." Jared stared at the electronics. "No, it's a glitch in the system. My software must have fucked it up." He turned to Misha and lowered his voice, "You fixed it before, now fix it _again_."

"I can't."

"Look!" Osric ran over with his phone. "Look at this! I got the traffic cameras to sync with Google satellite maps for real time uploads and found this, Jared. _This!"_

It was a fuzzy, blurry, rain whipped video of Jensen's house. Or what used to be Jensen's house.

"Osric, get me the address," Misha pulled out his phone.

Jared stared at the screen. "No. This can't be right."

Misha pressed three buttons. "911?"

"I'm going over there."

"You can't, man. Not yet. It's not safe." Chad valiantly continued clicking the keyboard.

The rain was pelting down, and the sound of tinkling glass mixed with the roaring winds. 

"Jared, as soon as it's safe, they'll send the EMS. When this lets up enough, we'll meet them there."

For that split-second, Jared actually considered waiting. He took off down the hall towards the side door, stepping over small branches, glass shards and puddles of water that must have blown into the building through broken windows. Misha was close behind.

The sky was green with a sickly yellow glow in the setting of the mid-summer sun. The gusts were letting up, but the rain still fell in sheets. Palm fronds, roofing tiles, and trash littered the landscape. The drainage system was so clogged with mud and gunk, that the streets were flooding. 

Jared picked up the pace as best he could, taking long, quick strides around, over and through the mess left by the derecho. Jensen's house was over a mile away, but with the water and junk piled up on the streets and sidewalks, it took an eternity before Jensen's street finally came into view. When sirens sounded in the distance Jared turned to Misha.

"Thanks for calling them."

"You're welcome. Which one is Jensen's house?

The deluge had created mini lakes in the neighbors' yards, and several houses on Jensen's street had lost roofs, siding, outdoor light fixtures and patio furniture. One utility shed had blown into the side of a garage and shattered. 

The sun had finally set, and it was getting dark.

As Jared made his way to Jensen's house, he sighed in relief as the front door pushed open from the inside.

"Thank God," Jared said, reverently. "Thank God and St. Medardus that Jensen kept his promise."

The top of Felicia's disheveled head appeared in the half-opened doorway followed by Scout scampering out onto the wet yard to pee. 

"Can you open the door wider, Felicia?" DJ's voice called from inside.

"I'm trying. Where'd you go?"

"Here. I'm here." Another set of hands pushed at the door to fully open it. 

Jared smiled as he splashed his way to the front. "Hey! You guys okay in there? Need a hand?"

Felicia's eyes were huge and her skin was ashen. Remnants of foam and feathers were clumped in her hair. DJ moved to fully get the door open. He wore the same shell-shocked look as Felicia. 

Jared looked past them into the dark house.

"Where's Jensen?" 

"We don't know." DJ gently pulled Felicia out the door. "We need to stay outside," he said to her. "The structure isn't safe." He raised a torn comforter over her head and shoulders to shield her from the rain.

"What do you mean, you don't know where he is?"

A tear slipped down Felicia's cheek. "He told us to get in the bathtub and cover up. I asked him, _begged_ him, to come with us. He said he would, but he didn't get there in time."

"He's not with you? Where is he?" 

DJ looked away.

Jared's world spiraled into a tiny pinhole of light. "I need—we need to find him."

"I can do that." DJ pulled his phone from his back pocket and keyed in some numbers. "I put Scout's GPS pet tracker into Jensen's pocket, and the coordinates show that he's…" He looked up, blinking. "In the backyard."

Jared ran to the back and stopped short. The pineapple palms and oleanders were crushed and scattered. The sirens wailed louder and louder. In the gloom, Jared saw a massive pile of muddy rubble that looked like it used to be a detached garage. According the Scout's tracker, Jensen lay underneath it.

"Oh shit." Jared began trembling. "Shit, shit, _shit_." He fell to his knees and started pulling siding away.

"Jensen! Can you hear me? _Jensen!_ "

"Jared, _stop_."

"Misha, help me. Jensen's under all this." 

"You need to let the experts do this. They're almost here, and it could be dangerous for Jensen if you move the wrong thing at the wrong time." 

Misha reached for Jared's arm to stand him up. Instead, Jared lay belly down on the sopping grass and shouted into the wreckage, "Jensen, we're here! We're here to get you out. Hang on!"

He turned his head and cocked an ear. "Jensen, can you hear me? It's Jay, I'm here. I'm _here_."

The rain was dying down, but night fell heavily upon Coconut Bay, especially Jensen's neighborhood where all the homes and streetlights were dark. The flashing ambulance and emergency police units slowly made their way up the street. Close behind was a WBB news van.

DJ dashed over to the rescue team, brandishing his iPhone.

Misha crawled down next to Jared. "WBB is live now. Osric hooked it all in." He glanced at the van. "We're on the air."

It was all so surreal. Jared lay in the water, Misha squatting next to him with his hand on Jared's back. The emergency responders decked out in rain gear, walked the perimeter with DJ, studying the coordinates on his phone. Their high beam flashlights tracked the debris and the wildly hanging tree branches. The EMTs opened the ambulance's doors and began preparing for a scoop and run trauma triage. 

"But he promised." Jared bent his head low to the ground and shouted, "Goddammit Jensen! You promised me, you _promised_. You'd better have a good..." his voice caught, "…a _damn_ good reason why you…why you didn't…"

Heat lightning flickered in the sky and the rain showered in fits and starts. Misha tapped Jared's shoulder. "Come on, Jay, stand up. The emergency crew wants to get in here." 

Jared stood, but yelled, "I'm staying right here, Jensen. Do you _hear_ that? Right here until you get out. Can you hear me _now_?"

Misha's hand was wet but warm on his shoulder. "Let's back up."

The news crew was staying out of the way of the rescue team. Rob and Alona were live broadcasting, which was unusual. They were the anchors and didn't do remote broadcasting anymore. Covering Jensen's rescue was a testament to their concern and friendship. 

A tall, red-haired EMT approached Jared. "Hey, I'm Ryan. That feller over there," he pointed to DJ, "says that you're Jared, Jensen's boyfriend?" 

"Yeah. Yes I am." Rainwater dripped down Jared's face and neck.

"We all heard him on the air during the storm, he's one brave dude. So, listen, I'm going to ask you guys to move to the front yard for a few minutes. We need let in some heavy equipment to safely lift the materials away. I know you're worried, but we're good at this and Jensen will be out before you know it."

"Don't make me leave." 

"You don't have to leave, but go in front so we can let the trucks in. Okay?" 

"You'll save him?" Jared knew how he sounded, but he didn't care.

"We're sure as hell gonna try." Ryan smiled, almost convincingly. "Got the ambulance ready and everything."

Misha nudged Jared's shoulder. "We'll watch from the front."

Ryan, said, "We'll let you ride with him once we get him out."

Jared stared at the heavy pile covering—his boyfriend. The growling of heavy machinery climbing up the road caught his attention. 

Ryan looked at Misha.

Misha gently steered Jared around, "We'll wait with Felicia."

"Don't go inside the house. We don't know how safe it is. We've asked the city to keep the power off to reduce the risk of sparks from exposed wires, so it's going to be dark. But, Jared, we have real bright lights coming in for this job."

"Okay. Thanks—thank you."

Jared and Misha joined Felicia and Scout. DJ was still in the back with his tracker. 

Heavy construction equipment rolled indelicately into Jensen's back yard. Huge flood lights came on in a snap and lit up the sky. The rumbling of heavy engines and barked orders were muffled by the screeching of moving debris. In a surprisingly short time, Ryan came running around front.

"Come on, Jared, we got him. Move!"

Jared broke into a run. Riggings had been set up on the heaviest of the roofing materials and the site was hastily shored up. A back hoe moved the rubble and held it up. Three rescue workers and four EMTs worked frantically to remove Jensen from the debris. The roofing teetered and shook as the backhoe held the weight off. 

Like a well-oiled miracle machine, Jensen was secured onto a backboard with a neck brace and hefted onto a gurney. The ambulance engine revved and the rescue personnel began cranking out stats and orders. 

"Get in, Jared. Let's go."

Jared climbed into the brightly lit ambulance and got his first look. There were oxygen tubes, blood pressure cuffs, IV lines, syringes, and lots of action. Jensen's eyes were shut and he didn't respond when they called his name or pressed into his fingernail. His legs didn't look right and his right hand was bruised and swollen. Jensen's face was bloody. 

A female EMT situated herself with a pair of safety scissors within Jensen's earshot. "Hi, Mr. Ackles, I'm Ginny. I'm going to remove your clothing to make it easier to get where we need to be." 

Ginny had an easy smile and gentle voice. She cut efficiently and quickly, removing long swaths of Jensen's shirt and slacks. 

"You were awesome tonight." She cut his right pant leg off and started on his sleeves. "Letting us know when and where the storms were coming, gave us all a chance to take cover."

She nodded to Ryan who rolled Jensen over so Ginny could complete the job. "You were very brave."

When they removed Saint Medardus, Jared held out his hand for it.

Ryan said to Jared. "He's breathing on his own but his lungs are having some trouble keeping his oxygen levels up, so we're going to have to help him with that. His heartbeat is good and strong, though." Ryan secured the gurney straps to the tie-down system, readying them for the ride to the hospital. Ginny started an IV, listed his vitals and then placed a mask with a bag attached over Jensen's nose and mouth and squeezed air into his lungs. 

Jared held onto Jensen's left ankle as the EMTs did their work. 

"Hey, Jensen, it's Jared. They're taking good care of you, I'm watching 'em. I'm taking the ride with you, too. You're going to be okay. You have to be okay. You don't get the telescoping eyeball, yet. You hear me?" 

Ginny shot Jared a bemused look as she continued the manual resuscitation. Ryan was running the telemetry wires and plugging them in as the driver gunned the engine.

"Ryan? Was Jensen conscious when you found him?" 

"No, he was out for the count. Secure yourself, Jared, we're ready to roll."

He buckled himself in, the blue-red lights flashed and the sirens blared. The ambulance took off, tearing through the darkened streets. Jared never took his hand off of Jensen's foot.

On the one hand, it seemed to take forever, on the other, it was in the blink of an eye.

  


There was a medical team waiting when they arrived at the Emergency Department of Florida Atlantic Hospital.

And that's as far as Jared got. The ER staff pried Jared's hand away from Jensen and asked him, kindly, to sit and wait. When they had _any_ information, they would let him know.

"You will?"

As they hurried Jensen into ER bay three, one of the medical staff touched Jared's shoulder. "One of the doctors will get back to you as soon as possible."

The waiting room door opened, and Felicia walked in. She was bedraggled and wet from her ordeal, but comported herself with head held high, to stand next to Jared.

"DJ is handing Scout over to Alona to get him home and fed." Felicia swiped at her eyes. "So, tech geek, what's the story?"

Jared mopped his face with the wet hem of his shirt. "I don't know. The ER guy said he'd let me know as soon as they knew anything."

"He did?"

"He said he would," Jared said, staring at the ER door. 

"What do you know?"

Jared sat and took a moment to get his head together. 

"I know that they got him out, that Jensen's heartbeat was strong, but that he needed more oxygen so they had to force air into him. Something about his lungs, but I don't know what." Jared rubbed his eyes. "He was unconscious and didn't wake up, even when they pressed his fingernail." 

"Did they look like they knew what they were doing?"

"They seemed to. They were all very efficient," Jared nodded, "and nice. They thanked Jensen for what he did."

Felicia nodded. "Then, the weatherman's in good hands. It doesn't sound like they're lying to you. We'll just have to wait for more info. In the meantime, I'll let Jensen's mother know what happened." She took her phone, gave Jared a shaky smile, and went outside.

Jared sat and put his head in his hands. He was somewhat ashamed that he hadn't thought of Jensen's family, but he would beg forgiveness if he had to.

The waiting room doors opened and DJ walked in looking around furiously. Spotting Jared, he strode over and sat down.

"The rescue team said that finding Jensen so soon was a real help." DJ said. "They said that it gave them almost the whole golden hour."

"Golden hour?"

"It's the first hour after a traumatic injury, and the most critical for successful emergency treatment," DJ said.

"Thank you, DJ. With all my heart." Jared took DJ's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you."

"You found Scout," DJ said, like that was the answer to everything.

Felicia came back in and sat. "I'll have to try again later. Here, I grabbed these." She handed them clean towels. "Dry off."

Several minutes, or hours passed until a medical professional approached them. "Mr. Jared Padalecki?"

"Me!" Jared shot up to his feet. "I'm Jared Padalecki!"

"Come with me, please." She regarded DJ and Felicia and smiled. "Everything's okay. I just need to talk to your friend for a few minutes."

Jared was led to a brightly lit, brightly decorated room on the same floor. "Mr. Padalecki, I'm Shannon, one of the admitting staff. As you know," she smiled gently, "we're in the aftermath of some pretty rough storms, and the power isn't up to full speed. We heard Mr. Ackles warn someone named Jared to take shelter when he was on the air. Over and over, in fact," she said, kindly. "We surmised that _Jared_ was a person of significance to him and since some of our systems are temporarily down, we'd like to determine whether you are that Jared."

"Yes! I'm that Jared! I'm Jensen's significant person."

Shannon cocked her head.

Jared calmed his voice. "Yes, I'm Jensen's boyfriend and I want to be with him right now."

"That's what we needed to verify. Mr. Padalecki, it's always better for the patient to have a loved one nearby, so we'll get you to him as soon as we can." Shannon gave Jared a soft look. "Because of your relationship, HIPPA allows, and we believe that it's in the patient's best interest, to keep you informed as much as possible. We want to do what's best for him, so stay close and listen carefully to what's going on around him."

"I will. I swear I will." Jared took a breath. "Can you tell me anything now?"

"Jensen was taken into emergency surgery for suspected internal bleeding. Doctor Baker Whovian is performing that surgery."

"Dr. Whovian?"

"Yes, he's our Critical Care Surgeon. He'll perform exploratory surgery to stop the bleeding and stabilize Jensen for the next surgical procedure."

"Internal bleeding?" Jared's eyes blurred and he became light headed. "I didn't know there was any internal bleeding."

"After the Doctor is finished, there won't be any. He's a remarkable surgeon." Shannon was using a calming, everything's-going-to-be-okay voice. "After that, Doctor Lloyd Brown will be performing orthopedic surgery, but the details of that surgery aren't available yet. We'll be sending you and your party to the surgical waiting area on the third floor. You'll all be more comfortable there."

Jared looked down at his trembling fingers and tried to calm them. Instead, a tear slid down his left cheek.

"Mr. Padalecki, try not to worry, your friend is in very good hands."

Jared put a hand up. "Please stop."

"He's young," Shannon continued, "he's strong, and he's holding his own."

"I can't stay." Jared stood so quickly that the chair teetered behind him. "I can't hear this." 

"Sir, really, he's doing as well as can be expected."

Jared turned and bolted back to the waiting room and beelined over to Felicia and DJ.

"Oh, my God, what's wrong? What happened?" Felicia lost the remaining color to her face and stood. "What, Jared, _what?_ "

DJ reached out to stand but, apparently his knees were Jello. "Oh, God, oh God, oh God," he chanted.

Jared shook his head. "Jensen's in surgery. He's, uh, he's holding his own."

"Then what did they say that got to you?" Felicia panted, plopping back into her seat. "Jesus Christ, you scared us."

Jared was dully surprised when more tears leaked out. He sat heavily into the waiting room chair. 

DJ turned squarely to face him. "Jared, please tell us what got you so upset."

Jared put his hand to his mouth, muffling his words. "It was like…it was like every time…they always say…and I didn't want to hear it."

"What are you talking about?" Felicia poked him, none too gently.

Jared dry-scrubbed his face. "This is what she said: Jensen is in very good hands, he's young and strong, he's holding his own and doing as well as can be expected."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Those are the clichés they always use. In every bad movie. In every good movie. That's what they say, right before the hero dies." Jared choked a sob. "Every goddamn time."

Felicia blinked, wide eyed. 

DJ spoke softly. "Jared, let's just sit and breathe for a minute."

"I can't. It's too… _I'm_ too…"

"Breathe with me. In and out. In and out."

DJ breathed in and out loudly. 

Jared took in a shaking breath, and then another.

"Good, that's good. I know you're scared. We all are. This is about as scared as I've ever been, but there's something you need to remember. Something to wrap your head around."

Jared swallowed, "What's that?"

DJ put his arm around Jared's shoulders and said, "Sometimes the hero lives, Jared. Sometimes he lives."

  


Dr. Whovian walked into the surgical waiting room wearing a big, toothy smile. He looked tired, but pleased.

"Are you the Ackles Family?" He had a mild English accent and his surgical cap was having difficulty containing his mass of curly hair.

"Yes. Here." Jared raised his hand. By this time, Chad and Misha had joined with DJ and Felicia in the waiting room. In one motion, all five rose to their feet. 

"Ah, yes," the Doctor said, shaking Jared's hand. "You'll be pleased to know that the patient handled the surgery beautifully. He's stabilized and resting comfortably."

Jared let all the air out of his lungs. "Thank you, doctor, thank you so much."

"You are very welcome." The surgeon smiled at Jensen's entourage. 

"When can I see him? Is he awake? Is he in there?" Jared pointed to the doors the doctor had just come through. 

"Oh, no, no." Dr. Whovian shook his head. "I'm sorry, I thought they told you."

Jared swallowed several times as his throat had suddenly filled with sand. 

Misha patted Jared's arm. "I'm sorry, doctor, no one has told us anything or given us updates since he went into surgery."

"My, my, my. Well then." The doctor pursed his lips, then said, "My job was to stop the internal bleeding and stabilize Mr. Ackles so that the orthopedic surgeon, Doctor Brown, could, uh, shall we say, pin the pieces back together."

"What pieces?" Jared ground out. "Nobody told us about any pieces."

Felicia sobbed softly in the background. 

Misha patted Jared's arm again and said, "Can you give us a status report on Jensen's condition? Specifically, about pinning the pieces back together?"

"Come, let's all have a sit down and I'll go over things with you." He sat and waited until Chad and DJ circled the chairs around him. It was 3:45 in the morning, so all the chairs were available.

Five sets of red-rimmed, worried eyes zeroed in on Dr. Whovian. "First, and I want to emphasize this, Mr. Ackles is doing well and resting comfortably. There were no problems or major complications that arose during surgery."

"But?" Jared asked.

"But, he _was_ badly hurt, and while he is stable now, make no mistake, he's not yet out of the proverbial woods."

"Can you," Jared cleared his throat, "can you tell us what happened to him?"

Misha stroked up and down Jared's arm and while it should have been annoying, it was strangely calming. 

"I'll tell you what I know, but be mindful that there are most assuredly issues outside of my area of expertise that I am currently unaware. Remember, I was only the first to the skirmish, Jensen has many more battles to fight." The Doctor nodded, looking at Jared. 

When Jared returned the nod, the surgeon continued, "The first repair I made was to his spleen, which was damaged by his fall. The spleen acts as a filter for the blood, so it's a very bloody organ. I stopped the bleeding and repaired the damage as best I could. While it looks as though all my stitches held, there's a possibility that I'll have to go back in and remove the organ if the bleeding starts up again."

Felicia gasped softly. 

"Fear not. One can live quite successfully without a spleen if one has to." He touched Felicia's hand.

"There was additional bleeding into his chest. When blood fills the space around the lungs, it hampers the lung's ability to expand. This is called a hemothorax."

"Was that why his oxygen was dropping in the ambulance?"

"Yes, but we found the source of the bleeding and stopped it. Because of the increased internal chest pressure due to the bleeding, we had to reventilate his lungs and add a chest tube for drainage. He is on a ventilator now. But it's just temporary."

Jared kept his breathing as even as possible as the surgeon continued.

"There is evidence of a mild closed head trauma, but no evidence of any bleeds in or near his brain. He has numerous abrasions and some serious skin damage, as he must have been dragged or scraped by the debris during or after the fall."

"So, what happens now?"

Dr. Whovian gave Jared a gentle smile. "Jensen has broken bones that need surgical intervention to heal properly. The most serious is the right femur fracture that will probably need plates and screws to hold it together, but I'll leave that to Doctor Brown to decide. His right arm was injured in such a way that surgery will be needed to realign it. Some surgeries must be performed as soon as possible to maintain perfusion to the affected limbs to avoid, uh, well, serious complications."

"Like amputation?" Misha asked.

"That's right. To avoid necrosis and possible amputation. We got to him in time, but time is still of the essence for the orthopedic surgeries."

"Is he, I mean, will he have more surgery tonight?" Jared found he was clinging to Misha's arm.

"No, not tonight. We're going to let Jensen rest, see how well his body handles the stress before Doc Brown operates."

"But what about his broken bones? What about Jensen's bones?" Jared's voice caught and Misha took his hand in a soothing gesture.

The surgeon continued, kindly. "All the bones will be stabilized externally and Jensen will be carefully monitored. Believe me, he won't be moving after all the medication he's receiving, so he'll be in a bit better shape for orthopedic surgery." He pulled his surgical cap off and let his hair fly. "That's about all the information I have for you right now, but believe me, he's a fighter."

"Yeah," DJ said, "he is. He's a great guy. Thanks, doc, for helping him." 

"You're quite welcome." He stood. "I suggest you all go home and change. Get something to eat and try to nap for a couple of hours. I'll make sure the staff is welcoming to all of you when you return to this waiting room. I will endeavor to make sure that you," he looked directly at Jared, "are updated regularly." 

Jared asked, "Do you know when the next surgery will be?"

"We want to wait a little, but not too long, so I'd guess mid-morning." Dr. Whovian turned toward the door he came through. "But don't quote me."

"Let me see him." Jared ran up to him. "Only for a minute, I swear. Let me see that he's alive and I'll go home. Please, doctor." Jared's voice shook, but his gaze was firm. "One minute."

The doctor huffed through his nose and bit his lip. "One minute. You'll have to gown up."

"Thank you. God, Doctor, thank you."

The surgeon leaned into Jared's ear. "Remember, when you see him, he's safe, he's strong, and he just came out of major surgery."

  


Jared thought he was prepared for what Jensen would look like, but he wasn't. Jared wore a yellow disposable gown, gloves and a mask.

"We can't afford you bringing anything into the surgical ICU that could cause infection. It's for Jensen's protection. Don't stay long." Dr. Whovian said as he left the cubical. 

Jensen was swollen. At lease what Jared could see. Jensen's face, hands and fingers were all puffy. There were two IV racks filled with multiple fluids all threaded through pumps that measured what was going into Jensen's body as well as a rather large tube emerging from under the sheets, emptying into a container measuring the fluid. 

_That must be the chest drain._

A catheter bag hung from the bottom of the bed frame while a ventilator mechanically breathed for him. Jensen's skin was an oily, sickly gray. 

Under the white hospital sheets, there was a bulkiness about him, probably the stabilizing elements for his leg, and there was a piece of equipment bracing his right arm. 

Jensen looked awful and Jared was scared. The soft sounds of the heart monitor, the electronic blood pressure cuff that regularly took the readings, and the whoosh, whoosh of the ventilator all blended into the symphony that was keeping Jensen alive. Jared crept to the head of the bed and leaned down. 

When he was level with Jensen's ear, he whispered softly, "Hey…"

"The doctors say that he can't hear you, because he's so drugged up, but I think he can." A nurse with the pink hair and light blue scrubs turned a knob on one of the pumps. "I've been doing this a while and, on some level, I believe that he knows you're here and that he's not alone."

"You think so?"

"I do. Talk to him for a minute or two, and then I'll get you back to the waiting room." She made a notation, and then left them alone.

"So, um, Jensen. It's me. Your significant other slash boyfriend. I only have a minute, but I wanted you to know that I'm okay, and that everybody's okay. We're all okay because of you." 

Jensen's heart monitor indicated that his heart rate slowed marginally, and it seemed that Jensen suddenly didn't look quite as gray.

"You'll have to work hard at getting better, but don't worry, I'm here to help you do that." He brushed his gloved fingertips against Jensen's sweaty head. 

"I'll always be here."

Jensen's heart was beating slow and steady; his face around the breathing tube looked more relaxed. 

"Your heartbeat is the sweetest sound." 

Jared ached to hold him. 

"And Jen, when it comes to _my_ heart, you own it— _you_ , my very own weather nerd–hold my heart." 

Nurse Pink stepped into the doorway.

"You do. You hold my heart in your hands, so, please, Jensen, please, don't ever start clapping." 

It was probably Jared's imagination, but it looked like the corner of Jensen's lip turned up.

  


Jared found Felicia dozing in the waiting room. DJ was tapping his feet and fidgeting like he'd had too much caffeine. Misha sat cross-legged on the floor with his back against the wall and his eyes closed while Chad paced, talking to himself.

Jared pasted on a smile and said, "Okay gang. We're through here for tonight."

One-by-one, they shook off their malaise and gave Jared their attention.

"How's he doing?" DJ asked.

"He's out like a light, and nothing's going to happen for at least a few hours. I'm going home to shower, shave, take a nap and pack a lunch before coming back. I'll keep you all informed, so you guys can go home."

"Nice try Tech Man." Felicia yawned. "I'm coming back with lunch and dinner, too. Count on it." She fumbled for her car keys. "You coming with?" She looked at DJ.

"Yeah. Take me home so I can feed and water Scout. Can you swing by and get me on your way back here?"

"Will do," Felicia said. "Jared, let us know if you hear anything in the meantime."

"Will do." Jared adjusted his faux smile.

Misha turned to Jared, "Would you like me to drive you home?"

"I got this, MishMan." Chad pulled out his keys. 

Misha nodded sagely, "As you wish."

They filed out until only Chad and Jared remained. Chad was bouncing on his toes, unable to look Jared in the eye.

"What's up with you? Jensen's sound asleep, and we can go." 

Chad stared at him. "I know you, man. What happened in there?"

"Nothing happened." Jared pulled his still-damp beanie out of his pocket.

"Nothing, huh?"

Jared sank into the nearest chair. "He was a mess. " He closed his eyes. "He was all beat up, Chad. It looked like he was T-boned by a semi."

Chad sat next to him. "Was he in any pain?

"No. He's out of it, not even breathing on his own."

"He isn't?

"He's on a ventilator."

"Then he can't be hurting, and he can't stop breathing, right?"

Jared opened his eyes and stared at Chad. 

"Right, Jay?"

Jared smiled, tiredly. "Right. You're right. He's not hurting, and he's breathing."

"I am right." Chad stood.

"What about you? What's up with the pacing and talking to yourself?"

Chad turned away.

"Chad?"

"You didn't hear him, man, but I did. He was so scared."

"What? When?" Jared rose to his feet.

"When our studio was the storm's bullseye. He wasn't scared for himself, he was scared for you. He was begging for you to be safe, and when he warned me…" Chad drifted off.

"Warned you, what?" 

Chad took a second. "When he warned me about the storm aiming for us, he shouted that there were fins to the left and fins to the right. He spoke "my language" to make sure I understood, and then pleaded with anyone listening to keep you safe."

"My boyfriend's awesome like that." Jared said, softly.

"I thought I knew what love was. Hell, I thought I'd _been_ in love before, but I've never really been so I don't really know. But with you and Jensen?"

Jared turned.

"With you and Jensen, ohhh, I've never really been…but I'd sure like to go." 

Jared gave a tired grin.

Chad shrugged. "I guess we'll have to go now."

  


Jared and Chad returned to the hospital a little before seven in the morning. No one was in the waiting room, and Chad had to find the dimmer switch to turn the lights up. There was a sealed envelope with Jared's name on it taped to the empty receptionist's desk.

Jared snatched it up, but his fingers didn't cooperate. Chad opened it. 

Mr. Padalecki,

Dr. Whovian asked us to inform you that Dr. Brown began surgical repair at approximately 5:30 AM. Updates will be supplied as they become available. 

~~S. J. Smith, PA

"Why didn't they wait? They were supposed to let Jensen rest and then go back in sometime mid-morning." He turned his wide eyes to Chad, hoping he had the answer. "It's not mid-morning. It's early morning."

"Listen, J-Man. Jensen needed surgery, and now he's in surgery. Sooner in, sooner out. Less wait time for us." Chad feigned nonchalance. "S'pose there's any coffee in this place?"

"Yeah." Jared cleared his throat. "Yeah, probably. See if you can score us some." Jared sat in the chair closest to the door and opened his phone. 

His mailbox, messaging and text centers were overflowing. He scrolled down to Felicia's message from early this morning:

_Hey, Jared. Jensen's mother had hip surgery and is recuperating at her sister's in Snohomish. Jensen's dad passed a couple of years ago. I told her the gist of the situation, that Jensen was in Florida Atlantic Hospital because of a storm-related accident, but I didn't go into all the details because I didn't want to upset her. Did I do the right thing?_

**You did fine. Say that Jensen is being well cared for and that you'll keep her in the loop. Tell her to try not to worry and that we'll keep her updated and that I'll call her soon. I just don’t know when.**

_Will do. I'll also see if she'll give the hospital permission to talk to you. She seems to like you._

Jared hoped that was the right answer. He couldn't dwell on it, though, because he was concentrating on why they pushed up Jensen's surgery. 

He was scrolling to DJ's messages when Chad sauntered in with two Starbuck's cups.

"Man, did you know they have Starbucks in hospitals? And they open really early? I mean, I knew there were Starbucks in airports, but we lucked out with this place." He offered Jared a Venti. 

"Maybe there's something wrong." Jared stood and began pacing. "That's why they had to get him early. His leg could have gone cold and they had to do something right away so they wouldn't have to ampu—amputate."

"Jared, you don't know anything."

"Or maybe the bones moved. Maybe the bones were moving in his arm and leg and causing more damage." Jared's heart rate kicked up. "Maybe there was more bleeding from his spleen or into his chest and they had to go in to save his _life_."

"Jared, stop." Chad raised his voice a notch then lowered it gently. "Stop. It could also mean that he stabilized so quickly and so well that the doctors thought it would be best to get started early. We need to wait a bit longer to find out. You know this stuff takes a while." 

Jared fidgeted for a minute, then sighed. "You're right. You're right, it takes a while." 

"I am right." Chad pulled Jared into the chair and nudged him with the coffee cup.

Jared took slow sip, then looked up at his friend. "Thanks Chad."

"No problem. But have some faith, man. Jensen's got this."

Jared's hand moved to his chest where St. Medardus lay. "I will, and he does."

  



	2. Chapter 2

  


Jared and Chad were both right. Sort of.

Jared was right, in that Dr. Brown was called in early because of concerns regarding the circulation in Jensen's arm. The right elbow was so badly dislocated that the position and swelling were interfering with the blood flow to his hand. Turned out that Jensen's wrist and fingers on that side were also broken. 

Chad was right, because Jensen's condition was stable. So stable that the surgeon didn't think he needed to wait any longer to begin the surgery. 

Doc Brown met with them after the elbow surgery and said that the femur would be next while Jensen was still out. 

"Don't worry," the doctor said, clapping Jared on the shoulder. "Your friend flew right through this one. I have no reason to expect that the open reduction—the repair of the thigh bone—will be any different."

That was two hours and an empty waiting room ago. One-by-one, Jensen's friends and Jared's crew filed into the surgical waiting area. 

Felicia brought food, Osric brought a couple of laptops and iPhones to keep people occupied with YouTube, Candy Crush and Reddit.

At the three-and-a-half-hour mark, a young woman in a white lab jacket with the name S.J. Smith embroidered on the pocket entered the waiting room. The room fell silent. 

"Jared Padalecki?" S.J. swiveled her head around the room. Her expression gave nothing away.

Ice water ran through Jared's veins as he stood. Until then, he hadn't realized how hard it was to keep his knees from buckling. 

"I'm Jared."

She smiled tightly. "Come with me, the doctor wants to speak with you."

Felicia shot to her feet. "Is everything okay?" 

"Is Jensen all right?" Chad raised his voice. "Please tell us."

S.J. smiled, a little more genuinely this time, and said, "He's out of surgery and in recovery. Mr. Padalecki, you can come with me."

It was all a blur until he was in the doctor's office. Dr. Brown entered and sat behind the desk, still in his surgical scrubs.

"Hi, again, Jared. Jensen pulled through the second surgery like a trooper. I lined up the broken femur and used a series of rods and pins to maintain the alignment so his leg will heal properly. I have no reason to believe there will be any complications, but," the surgeon smiled, gently. "we must always cross our fingers."

"That's great. That's really great." Jared released his breath. But didn't relax yet. "Will you have to go back in and take out the pins when the bones are all healed?"

"No. After the bone's healed, he won't know they're there, so we leave them in. While everything is going as well as can be expected…"

Jared flinched, but the doctor didn't notice.

"…I'm going to give you the full update." 

"Okay."

"As Dr. Whovian explained, surgery was needed to stop the bleeding and repair the damage to Jensen's spleen. As he also told you, injuries from the fall caused some chest bleeding with a hemothorax, and that, too has been repaired. The good news is, it doesn't look like there are any complications from those procedures. On the orthopedic side, we had a team of surgeons working on him in the OR to minimize time under anesthesia. We have an excellent team and they all do meticulous work."

Dr. Brown gave Jared a reassuring look.

"So," the doctor fired up his computer. "Jensen sustained a set of pelvic fractures due to the force of the impact. Because the pelvis is shaped like a pretzel, it's near impossible to break it in one place without breaking it in another. So, at the bottom-most portion of the pelvis, two fractures were identified. This will cause some temporary pelvic instability and a fair amount of discomfort, but no surgery is needed."

"It'll heal on its own?"

"Yes. The pelvis will heal without our help." The doctor removed his surgical cap. "We found that his left ankle was fractured, his right wrist and the four fingers of his right hand were also broken. We set the ankle, wrist and fingers. His right knee was badly dislocated. We braced it, but he'll definitely need surgery on that, soon. As you know, we surgically realigned his right elbow this morning. He has three broken ribs on the right, one of which, we believe, caused the chest bleeding. The ribs are all lined up now and will heal on their own. There are skin abrasions mostly to his right side, and an indication of a mild traumatic brain injury…"

"Oh, God." Jared dropped his head into his hands. He was hanging in there pretty well with the litany of Jensen's injuries, but when the doctor said _brain injury_ , all Jared saw, in his mind's eye, was the swelling and the blood on Jensen's face.

"Hey, Jared, hey. It's not as bad as it sounds. There are no brain bleeds—I think Dr. Whovian told you that—and the concussion should heal on its own within a few of weeks. He'll have headaches for a while, mood swings due to the concussion and maybe temporary memory loss, but, with time, he should be fine."

"Are you sure? Please be sure." 

Doctor Brown paused, "I can't make any guarantees."

Jared took a moment to steady his emotions. "I know. I know."

He took in a lungful of air. "You've been making it sound like Jensen is waltzing through all these operations. There's got to be a flip side."

The doctor held Jared's eye with his. "Yes. There's a flip side. That's why I wanted to talk to you."

"Give me everything you've got. I need to know what we're in for, because he and I? We're in this together."

"I'm glad. Jensen's going to need physical and emotional support in the months to come. I wasn't exaggerating when I said how well Jensen has tolerated the surgeries, because he has. But he was badly injured and he'll need more operations before we're through with him. We will be on the lookout for injuries we may have missed, and be alert to bleeding, respiratory issues, and infection, which is always a huge possibility when injuries were sustained on a wet ground. Dirt, debris and other elements Jensen was subjected to, including the surgeries themselves could source infections. After he's stable and strong enough, he'll need an intensive stay at a rehab center to heal, get stronger, keep his pain managed, and to remain as flexible and mobile as possible. Make no mistake, Jensen has a long road ahead of him." 

"Doctor Brown, with all the broken bones, surgeries, and upcoming surgeries, do you know if he will," Jared swallowed. "Will Jensen walk again?"

Doc Brown looked at Jared as though he was weighing his words. "I'm very optimistic that he will, but we don't know what obstacles lie in the road to his recovery. I do believe that with care, diligence, and hard work, he will heal and walk on his own again."

Jared blew out some air. "Good, that's good. 'Cause I wouldn't want to haul his heavy ass around everywhere." He looked up. "But I would. In fact, I would get him the hottest, sexiest, baddest ass set of wheels and detail them myself. "

"I'm glad," the surgeon smiled. "Do you have any more questions for me?"

"Of course I do, a whole _ton_ of questions, but you've answered the most important ones for now." Jared stood. "Thank you. Thank you for all you've done."

"In my heart, I believe that Jensen saved lives last night. It was the least I could do to thank him for that." Doc Brown stood and opened the door. "You can go see him when he's out of recovery and in the ICU. You can stay as long as you want as there's no visiting hour limit for close family."

"There isn't?" 

"It's been proven that patients heal quicker, do better and stress is decreased when a loved one is nearby. I don't expect a long stay at the surgical ICU, though, and Jensen will be sleeping through it, so after a quick check, you might want to wait until he's set up in his own room before camping out. There's even a pull-out bed for you. In the meantime, you can update his family and friends, get what you need from home, and then come back and stay for a while."

Jared smiled a watery smile. "All this and a Starbuck's too." 

"If you've got to be in a hospital," the doctor gave another clap to Jared's shoulder, "this is the one to be in. I'll get Marty, my assistant, to show you where the ICU is, and then get you back to your friends."

"Thank you. Thank you, again."

"You're welcome. Make sure you take care of yourself, Jared. You're no good to him if you crash and burn." 

"I know and I will."

The doctor leaned out of his office door. "Marty, take Jared to the ICU, please. And then show him how to get back to the main waiting room." He smiled over at Jared. "Tell Jared he can come back any time, and give him a map of the place."

"Okie doke, Doc." A young man with an apparent overload of energy bounced on his toes waiting for Jared to join him.

  


The surgical ICU was a lot calmer and quieter than Jared expected it to be. He was led over to a corner cubical where Jensen lay sleeping. He was hooked up to a bunch of machines with a myriad of wires, draining tubes, and IVs snaking all around him. But this time, all Jared concentrated on was Jensen's sweet face, now cleaned of blood and looking less swollen. He was still on the ventilator but there was a peace to his breathing, and Jensen's stillness spoke to Jared more of comfort rather than injury.

"Hey, Jensen. I'm only going to stay for a minute, because you need your beauty sleep, but I want you to know that I'm here and I'm going to be here for the long haul. The doctors say you're doing really well and I believe them. It may not be a walk in the park, but they think that someday you'll _be able_ to walk in the park." Jared took hold of Jensen's left hand, "And you and me? Barring any further derechos, we will weather this storm together."

  


"So, the docs say you should be waking up soon." Jared re-twined his fingers with Jensen's unbroken ones. "They've been telling me to keep talking to you, too. Like you know how hard it is for me to talk, right? So, I'll tell you right now that we are not in trouble with the station executives or the FCC. We could have been, since, you know, we did hijack the station and all." He brought his lips close to Jensen's ear and whispered conspiratorially, "And that was way cool."

Jensen's head was bandaged and both of his eyes were bruised black. He had a nasal cannula delivering oxygen and IVs delivering who knows what all. There was a brace on his right knee and some kind of immobilizer on his right elbow. His right wrist was in a blue plaster cast that extended to include his broken fingers. Jared couldn't take his eyes off him because Jensen, alive and breathing on his own, was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. 

"One of the reasons that we're not in hot water is because Misha was able to get the WNBC national News in New York City to carry your reporting live, and Osric hacked into the Emergency Broadcast System to get you on people's radios, computers and phones— I don't know how he did it, and he probably should be in jail." 

Jared brushed his knuckles against Jensen's cheek. "We are not only _not_ in trouble, we're kind of heroes, except," Jared's voice faltered, "except we all know who the real hero is. Can you please, please open your eyes, now?"

Jared instantly regretted asking that, as Jensen's eyes shot open. He looked around wildly, and tried sitting up. 

Jared quickly got one arm around Jensen to keep him still, and used the other to reach the call button. "Easy Jensen, don't move. Everything's okay. You're okay." 

Jensen's body jackknifed in what looked like pain, as tears tracked down his cheeks.

The machines monitoring Jensen wailed and alarms beeped.

Jared spoke in his ear. "Jensen, you're fine. I'm here. Jensen?"

Jensen went rigid in Jared's arm, and he whimpered pathetically.

"Help!" Jared screamed. "We need help in here!"

Jared held Jensen close as the medical team rushed in. "Jen? It's me, it's Jay." Jared tried not to panic. "Can you hear me? Try to take it easy, okay? Be easy. Jensen, be easy." Jared squeezed his hand before being shuttled away by the staff.

"What's happening? What's happening to him?" Jared struggled to peer around the doctors and nurses who now surrounded Jensen's bed.

"Give us a minute, Jared." The nurse with the pink hair said gently but firmly. "He woke up too fast, that's all."

"Are you sure? Are you sure?"

It took several minutes, but when it was over, Jensen was settled and sleeping soundly. It would have looked like nothing had happened except there were drying tear trails down both of Jensen's cheeks. The med team left almost as quickly as they arrived with two of the nurses staying behind to further settle their patient.

"Don't worry, he's going to be okay." Nurse Pink—he really should ask her name—said, soothingly. "Sometimes patients come alert too quickly and they're disoriented. Jensen didn't know he was hurt and he moved when he shouldn't have."

"Will it happen again? Please don't let it happen again." Jared caught his breath. "Was it me? Was it because I was talking to him? Was it because I asked him to open his eyes? Oh, God! It was me. I did that." 

"You did nothing wrong. If he heard you, and I'm thinking he did, I'll bet it was a soothing balm to his soul to hear your voice."

"You think so?"

"I do."

"Then I'll talk slowly to him. Not be so pushy about getting him to wake up." A thought occurred to him.

"Hey, Jensen opened his eyes."

"Yep, and he'll be waking up for-real soon." She smiled and patted Jared on the shoulder. "Keep talking to him. Keep him entertained." Her nurse's shoes squeaked as she walked away.

Jared sat down next to the bed. "Did you hear that, Jense? I'm supposed to keep you entertained." 

With Jensen breathing, opening his eyes and moving (even though he didn't look happy doing it) Jared was finally able to take an optimistic breath. He reached for Jensen's hand and said, "So, I'll stay here keepin' the faith."

And, of course, he had to sing Billy Joel into Jensen's ear until Jared, himself, dozed off.

  


Something woke Jared up.

Talk about disoriented. He was dreaming of giant wind turbines. 

Listening carefully, he noticed that Jensen's breathing pattern had changed. He wasn't imagining it because Jared had become quite familiar with Jensen's breathing, inhaling and exhaling with him to make sure Jensen was getting enough oxygen through his nasal cannula. 

Jensen's eyes were moving under his lids. 

"That's it, babe. Try opening your eyes and I'll talk you through it. Keep listening to my voice, okay?" Jared moved his lips scant inches from Jensen's ear. "Can you hear me, Jen?"

Jensen's eyes opened a crack, and a look of terror washed over him.

"It's okay. You're safe. We're safe." Jared held tight to Jensen's hand.

It looked like it took a Herculean effort, but Jensen finally got his eyes all the way open and zeroed them on Jared.

"There you are," Jared said, but Jensen's eyes began drifting closed.

"Hey, hey Jensen. Can you hear me now?"

This time Jensen's eyes stayed open. Not all the way, but he swallowed twice and uttered what sounded like, " Ver…n?"

Jared aimed a bendy straw at Jensen's mouth and he sipped. Jared asked softly, "How about now? Can you hear me now?"

Jensen nodded and mouthed a word. Jared brought his ear down close. 

"Verizon." Jensen nodded again. "Can you hear me now?" 

Jensen's voice sounded awful and wonderful. Awful because it sounded like he was talking with glass shards lining his throat, and wonderful because Jensen was awake, alive, and speaking in commercials. 

Like a bolt of lightning, the enormity of what happened shot through him. Jensen could have died. He almost did. That fact not only broke Jared's heart, it pissed him off royally.

His emotions obliterated what little stoicism he had left, and Jared broke down, sobbing like a three-year-old.

"You _promised_ , Jensen. You promised. _I will if you will_ you said. Well I did and you didn't. When Alaina called me into her office to ream me out over the live-stream hijacking, I told her I wasn't going in, and that if I were her, I'd get to the console room immediately."

Jensen stared at Jared, blinking.

"You bet your ass I did, and, no, she didn't like it, but she came. It was a good thing, too, because one of the station's landscaped Magnolia trees exploded through her window and impaled itself on her desk chair. Glass was fucking everywhere. And do you know why I didn't get hurt? Do you know why? I didn't get hurt _because I stuck to the deal._ I didn't go into her office where there were _windows_."

Jared waited because Jensen began shaking, holding tighter to Jared's hand. Jensen had tears of his own in the corners of his eyes. Jared wiped the tears from his own face and dropped his head. "You didn't stick to the deal and we almost lost you.

"We almost _lost_ you." Jared glanced at Jensen, "In fact, we did sort of lose you. If DJ hadn't slipped Scout's GPS into your pocket, they might have found you much later than they did."

Jensen cocked his head to the left, and Jared interpreted that to mean, _What? Huh?_

"Oh," Jared said. "After Scout got lost the last time, DJ bought a GPS locator for him to wear on his collar. DJ put it in your back pocket before he, Scout and Felicia went to safety in your _ground floor_ bathtub."

Jensen's eyebrows knitted together. 

"Yeah, they're fine. Covered in goose down, but waiting downstairs to hear how you're doing, like the rest of the country. Do you remember us finding you?"

Jensen shook his head, _no_.

Jared took a moment to breathe. Jensen was breathing heavily, and Jared gently wiped the moisture from Jensen's eyes with the pads of his thumbs. 

They looked at each other with watery affection. 

Jensen tried clearing his throat. Jared held the straw out to him, but he waved it away. 

"How bad?" Jensen asked. 

Still awful, still wonderful. 

"Lots of property damage, several low-lying areas got hit with flash flooding, and a small tornado touched down in Gulf Beach Park. Some people got hurt, but no deaths. Not one." 

It was like a bad dream Jared was still waking up from. "Almost one, Jensen. Almost you. Why didn't you move to safety? Why?" 

And Toddler Jared's eyes were watering again.

"Sorry. I'm sorry."

Jensen's voice was weak and he was losing the battle to keep his eyes open. "Jay?"

"Go to sleep." Jared stroked Jensen's hair. "I'll let people know you're awake, and then I'll be back. I'll be right back."

Jensen was snoring lightly and Jared leaned down to kiss the top of his head. Jared took a selfish moment to look at Jensen, sleeping peacefully, and thanked Saint Medardus for watching out for him. 

Saint Medardus. Patron saint of weathermen. He sure came in handy.

  


Jared stepped into the waiting room where his friends had been hanging out. Someone from both the WBB and the PMC camps were always there.

Osric hopped off the ottoman he was standing on. "Jared's here. Jared's back. Hey Jared. Hey."

All eyes turned to Jared. "He's awake and talking. Well, I mean, right now he's sleeping, but he was awake and he will be awake again. And talking. Again."

Big Jim Beaver bellowed out a huge breath. "Welp, that's good. That's real good. You tell that boy not to be so hard-headed next time. You _tell_ 'im."

"You should probably tell him that yourself, Jim." Jared sat, as exhaustion was now winning over anxiety. 

"You know, I might do that. I just might." Jim stood and stretched high. "He doing okay? You know when we might get to see him?"

"He's pretty beat up and talking isn't easy for him right now, but in a couple of days, I'll bet he'll be raring to see something other than my sorry mug."

"I'm good with that. I'll head on back and give the gang an update. You tell that idjit…" Jim trailed off and looked at the floor, swallowing hard. "You tell Jensen we're proud of his stupid, stubborn ass." 

"I will."

Jim nodded once and left. 

"Jared? Jared?" Osric hadn't stopped bouncing. "Tell him we're here. Tell him we're here for him. Tell him we miss him and we're sorry he's so hurt."

"I will, O. He'll be glad to know his friends are here and care so much." 

"Then why are you sad? You said he was getting better." Osric rocked into Jared's personal space. "Why, Jared?"

"I'm not sad." 

"Tears are on your face." 

Again? Sheesh. 

"I'm not sad," he repeated. "I'm just happy that he's awake and has such good friends."

"Okay then." Osric reached for his computer bag and bike helmet. "I'll go back and let everybody know that he's awake. You tell Jensen we love him, okay?"

Tired, happy, hormonal, Jared didn't know what was going on with him. He pressed his lips together to calm them and said, "I will. Bet on it."

  


The curtains were pulled back from the windows by Jensen's hospital bed. He was out of the ICU and this room was bright with natural light. All traces of the bad weather were gone.

Jared looked down at Jensen's bruised face. He was still on oxygen, and everywhere he looked, Jensen was bandaged, stitched, immobilized or plaster casted. His eyes were closed and each time Jared looked at him, Jensen was more beautiful than ever. 

Christ on a cracker, he had it bad.

Jared sat in the chair on Jensen's left, took his hand and let his own eyes fall shut. The steady beeping and ambient hospital noises were calming after all the excitement. After several minutes, he felt a slight but definite pressure clasping his hand.

Jensen's eyes were open and clear, and better still, they looked at Jared with warm affection.

Jared squeezed back and reached for Jensen's water glass. "Hey, how're doing?" 

Jensen sucked down a few mouthfuls of cool water.

"What happened to me?" Jensen asked.

"You got blown out of your house and landed in the back yard." Jared answered. "You were buried under the rubble, so we had to key in Scout's GPS code to find you."

Jensen's eyes widened in shock. 

"Am I okay?"

"No."

_"No?"_ The beeping started up in earnest and Jensen's breaths came in short, quick gasps.

In retrospect, Jared really could have said that better.

"Hold on, hold on. You're going to be okay. You're just not okay right now." Jared held onto Jensen's hand. "Here, breathe with me. In and out."

He put his hand on Jensen's chest and exaggerated a breath in and a breath out. "In and out."

"What?" Jensen followed Jared's breathing until he had enough air to ask: "What's not okay about me?" 

Jared smoothed Jensen's hair away from his face. He stroked his cheek and kissed his hair. Jensen calmed and the machines quieted with every kiss. 

Jensen lay back, staring up with big, green eyes in anticipation.

Jared smiled softly. "Jensen, when they found you,"

"So, how's Florida's favorite weatherman? I'm Doctor Brown, one of your orthopedic surgeons. We haven't been formally introduced, but I know you pretty well." Doctor Brown came in with a laptop on wheels and was currently pulling up what appeared to be Jensen's medical information. 

Jensen turned to Jared and mouthed, "Doc Brown?"

"Yeah," Jared stood. "He's the one who pinned you back together."

"One of the surgeons. You've had quite a team working on you, son." Doc Brown said, kindly. He sat at eye level with Jensen. "First, you're a very lucky man. You sustained impact injuries from a defenestration from the second story and impact injuries caused by falling and blowing debris."

Jensen looked confused and turned to Jared.

The doctor clarified. "You got blown out of a window from your top floor, landed in your back yard, and stuff hit you while you were falling and stuff fell on top of you after you landed," 

Jared lay his hand on Jensen's shoulder and stroked in comforting circles. 

"Now, let's see." Doc Brown clicked through the reports in front of him. Jared kept an easy, slow circular rhythm.

"Your pelvis is fractured in two places. Your left ankle is also broken." The doctor looked up and smiled. "Another way of saying _broken bone_ is _fracture_. They mean the same thing and a fracture isn't worse than a break." 

He cursored down the screen. "Your right femur—that's your thigh bone—is also fractured and your right knee was dislocated. Your right elbow needed surgical realignment, and your right wrist, and three of the four fingers on your right hand were broken."

Doc Brown looked up and slid his reading glasses down. "You took a lot of damage on that right side." 

He pushed his glasses back up. "You have three cracked ribs, also on the right, and a concussion resulting in a mild closed head injury. Internal damage was done to your spleen and right lung, and you sustained a mean case of road rash," he looked up. "And that will hurt. We surgically reduced the femur fracture and used pins and rods so it would heal properly. We set the bones in your ankle and wrist and fingers. We braced your right knee, but you'll need surgery on that soon. Your pelvis and ribs will heal on their own."

During the long dissertation of the injuries, Jensen's in and out, in and out, went quicker and quicker. "Wow," he panted when the doctor finished. "I'm a mess."

Jared brushed his hand through Jensen's hair and thought, _"In no universe are you a mess."_

Christ on a _cracker_.

"There is good news, though," the doctor said. "There was no damage to your spine, no lasting effects from the head injury are expected and all internal injuries are expected to heal without complications. As a bonus, not a mark on your face. Twelve stitches at the hairline, but even those will be invisible with time."

Jensen paled ever slightly when he asked, "Will I walk again?"

"Yes. It's going to take time and work, but we expect you to be back on both feet again. Mr. Ackles, you were badly hurt, but you're young and strong, and have friends and support. No one can predict your prognosis with certainty, but we expect all positive outcomes."

"Good, I think. Thank you." Jensen's voice was thin.

"How's the pain?"

"Not bad."

"Until he tried to sit up," Jared interjected.

Jensen looked like he wanted to rebut, but when he looked at Jared, his features softened and his eyes shone. 

Jared cheered internally. _He's got it as bad as I do._

Dr. Brown caught and held Jensen's eye. "Be honest about the pain, son. We can and should control it for now. Please let the nurses know when you need relief. I'll give you something in your IV now and I'll be checking on you later this evening."

He unlocked a cabinet and measured an amount of medication into Jensen's IV.

"Thank you, doctor," said Jensen.

"Thanks, doc," said Jared as the doctor left the room and shut the door.

"The way I look at it, I can still forecast the weather. In fact, I might be able to predict the weather just with my bones alone." He smiled feebly at Jared.

"My house didn't get hit hard. We didn't get a full-on blast in Parkbridge. I'd like it if you came home with me after your stay in rehab. I have wide doorways and wide hallways big enough for your temporary wheelchair. I have that big guest bedroom on the ground floor with an attached bathroom that we could modify."

"Oh," Jensen's face fell. "The guest bedroom, huh?"

Jared shot Jensen _his_ winning smile. "The guest bedroom that we can modify into a _master_ bedroom."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Was Jensen actually _asking_ that? What a maroon. 

"Of course, I do. After all, there's something I haven't told you yet." In fact, this next piece of information was literally hot off the press. He couldn't wait to let Jensen know that a ceremony was being planned for him in his honor.

"No more surprises. I don't think I can take any more surprises."

"Sorry, but you have to know that when Misha ran the live feed through the major NBC network to the entire country, you became America's New Darling."

"Please say that's not true."

"Well, that's what I call you."

"Please don't."

"All of America heard you warning the city about the derecho. Live. You were live when you asked about my safety. That's how I was able to be your significant other and allowed to be here with you right now. Can we start using the term "boyfriend" now, please?"

"Yes, we can."

"Good, because I already have. You were live on the air the whole time and that meant everybody heard when you," Jared stopped and caught his breath. "You were live when the storm got you."

Jensen took Jared's hand.

"You generated a lot of public concern when it came to finding you and getting you out. I'm warning you now, because pretty soon this whole hospital will be filled with Get Well Soon balloons, flowers, candy and toys. Felicia's been fielding all your calls."

"How long did it take to find me?"

"Thanks to Scout and DJ we knew right where you were buried in the rubble. Getting you out safely took a little doing, especially since the storms were still in progress. Most of your rescue was on the local air, live, with the WBB news crew."

"Crap." Jensen's voice took on a calm, floaty quality. "Am I on a cloud?"

"No, you're not on a cloud. Take a look here." Jared opened the top three buttons of his shirt. "Saint Medardus. I'm wearing him and thanking him for you."

He reached over and stroked the medal Jared held, and gave him a drooly smile.

Jared knew that the drugs were hitting so he added quickly, "When you wake up, I have one more piece of news for you, and I'm sure you're going to like it. "

"Huh? Wha's'zit?" 

"I'll tell you later, and, if you're good, and if they let me, I'll sneak you in a salad from Bread Zeppelin. Go to sleep." 

A soft touch at his hairline, a soft kiss at his temple and Jensen was out for the count.

  


The crew from WBB and PMC were crowding around Jensen's hospital bed when Jared arrived. It was late afternoon, and he had gone home to run couple of errands. Jared knew that he had been monopolizing Jensen's time and that he had to give some of it up to Jensen's friends.

"Now I'm not telling you this so you get a big head or anything," Rob was looking down at Jensen, "but the day after the derecho, our ratings went through the roof."

"That's right!" Alona said. "Not only were the ratings sky high, but our phones were ringing off the hook with viewers wanting to know how you were and to wish you well."

"Yeah," Rob said. "And not only locally, but from all across the _country._ "

"We even got a call from Canada," Alona said proudly.

A pink blush ran up Jensen's pale cheeks.

"Phones don't have hooks anymore." Osric said as he bounced up and down in the corner. "And the close door button on elevators don't work."

"They don't?" Alona blinked her pretty eyes.

"Nope, and they haven't for a long time. The _keep door open_ buttons work though," Osric said, nodding. "Firefighters can close an elevator door manually if they have to."

Misha was sitting silently, holding Jensen's hand when Jensen noticed Jared in the doorway.

One look and Jared knew what to do. 

He smiled, clapped his hands softly and said, "Visiting hours are over for everybody but me."

One by one, they filed out. Both Alona and Misha kissed Jensen's cheek as they left. 

Jared lowered his voice, dimmed the lights, and closed the shades.

"Better?"

"A little." Jensen cleared his throat. "I thought the leg was going to be the problem. Concussions suck big time. Who knew that clicking a light on would burn my skull from the inside out, or turning too quick would make my brains melt out of my ears?"

Jared smiled, gently. "Doc Brown said that the worst of the pain should go away soon." He reached for the call button. "Shall I call a nurse?" 

Between the headaches and the abraded skin, which the physicians said was akin to second-degree burns, various pain-relieving medications were a necessity even if they only took the painful raw edges off, because, right now, most of Jensen's waking hours were a misery.

"Naaw, you're here, so I'm feeling better already." Jensen worked up a weak but genuine smile which managed to melt Jared's heart.

"I'm jealous you let Misha hold your hand." Jared sat and began massaging Jensen's temples. "He even kissed you on the way out."

Jensen heaved a relieved sigh and closed his eyes. "Misha is surprisingly soothing. There's something magically Zen about him."

"There must be since we used his son's cheesy slogan for the PMC Company."

Jensen snorted then grimaced. "Ouch. Stop it. No jokes. No laughing, and, God forbid, no sneezing." Jensen cracked an eyelid open, "I was ready to shove an ice pick through my eye after that exploding pepper package debacle."

"Jensen. What did we say about self-lobotomizing?" 

Jensen snickered then grabbed his head with his left. " _No_. No jokes. Stop, _stop_."

"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry." Jared softened his voice and scooted up on the bed. "I'm really sorry." He kissed up Jensen's neck. "Shh, shh, I won't do it again." He worked his way over to put his arms around him and kept nuzzling Jensen's hair until he relaxed down into Jared's arms.

Jared wrapped him close and simply held him.

"I'm sorry," Jensen said after the pain eased. "I'm sorry I'm such a baby." He snuggled closer, and Jared held tighter.

"You're not a baby and don't be sorry." 

A soft exhale was all Jared heard. He kissed the top of Jensen's head. "How does your back feel? Do you want me to put some of that Lidocaine burn cream on it for you?"

"No, thanks. Lying here like this, everything feels much better." 

"Have you eaten? Are you drinking enough? Do you need donuts or pancakes or a Big Mac?" As Jared spoke, he stroked Jensen's arm. "Maybe ten or twelve down pillows and a fluffy comforter?"

"No, just you." With his eyes closed, Jensen smiled softly. "You're all I need. I always feel better with you here. You're kind of magically Zen yourself."

"Then I'll stay." Jared massaged Jensen's shoulders with a feather touch. "But I'm beginning to like the idea of pillows, donuts, and Big Macs."

Jensen let out a relieved groan. "That, what you're doing, that feels so good. And your voice, it's so good. You are so good." His breathing evened out, but Jensen wasn't asleep. "You're so, so good to me."

Jared found a tight spasm in Jensen's left shoulder and used his fingers to gently work it out.

Jensen moaned in relief for several minutes then edged back. He looked up blearily and said, "You're the best. You know that?" Then dropped full weight onto Jared's chest. Jared gathered him close.

"No, you are." Jared wanted to hold him tight and never let go, but he didn't want to hurt Jensen's arm, or leg, or knee, or ribs, or … "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Van Morrison or Rod Stewart?" Jensen mumbled into Jared's shirt.

"Well, that would be a tough call," Jared lay his cheek on the top of Jensen's head, "except it's neither. It's how I feel."

Jensen smiled against Jared's chest. "I'm a lucky guy."

Jared found that unexpectedly touching, so he blinked his eyes, held on to Jensen, and thanked St. Medardus again and again that Jensen was alive, and drooling on him.

Christ on a _cracker_.

  


Physical therapy came for Jensen.

It took two of them to transfer Jensen and arrange him comfortably in a high-back reclining wheelchair with his braced right knee straight. He'd had surgery on that knee two days ago and no weight bearing _whatsoever_ was allowed.

To the therapists' credit, they told Jensen what they were going to do and what they wanted him to do to help. They were cheerful, upbeat and efficient. 

Jensen, to _his_ credit, bit his lip, closed his eyes, and followed their instruction mostly by using his left arm and hand. 

It was an arduous task, and it was obvious that Jensen's cracked pelvis was making an appearance, as every move looked as though it hurt to sit.

Jared stood next to Jensen as they prepared for their journey to the elevator and the three floors down.

"Hey, Jared?" Jensen's voice was weak just from getting into the wheelchair.

Jared knelt down so he was eye level. "What's up?" He brushed an imaginary strand of hair away from Jensen's eye.

"It's not that I don't want you there, but I'd like to do this first session alone. Don't be upset, okay?"

_Don't be upset?_

"I won't ever be upset as long as I get to be here when you come back. After all, you're coming home with me someday." 

"You say that now but you have no idea how I'm going to renovate the guest bedroom."

" _Master_ bedroom, and you got it."

Even though the therapists were waiting, Jared took his time. "I want you to know that I'll back you up with anything you want. I'll be wherever you need me to be. You don't have to be a hero on my account, or anyone's account. You already have that title." 

"I'm no hero."

"You are to me." Jared worked up his dimples and hoped they did the trick.

Jensen used his good hand to touch Jared's face and trace his lips. "I love you, you know."

"Back at'cha. I'll be here waiting."

"Okay, let's get this show on the road," short, blonde physical therapist said, smiling.

Jared held himself back from supporting Jensen's head, cradling Jensen's injured right arm, and telling the therapy staff _for God's sake don't hurt him!_

Jared probably looked a little rough, because tall, bald physical therapist smiled kindly and said, "Don't worry, we'll bring him back in one piece."

Jensen's eyes silently sought out Jared's, and with much effort, Jensen brought his casted hand up and raised his thumb.

Jared raised both of his and watched them wheel Jensen away.

  


"Jayman!"

Jared entered the bullpen at the WBB studio. It seemed like ages since he'd been there. The building has sustained some damage, but everything was dry now, the broken windows were replaced, and PMC had a job to finish. 

"Hey, Chad." Jared sat at a terminal and was satisfied that the computer screen was no longer a steady blue. "How close are we to being done here?"

"We are rock steady. Launch code is T minus nine. We should be dusting it off and packing it up by the end of next week."

"That's great, man. All the numbers are stacking up?"

"So far, it's looking good. Soon, PMC will have a successful new product launch, and after lift-off, we say good bye for now to WBB. It's crunch time which is why I haven't been able to visit your boy."

Jared activated the touch screen, absently finger brushing the hair out of his eyes while staring at the computer.

"Holy Moly, man, you look wrecked." Chad lowered his voice. "How is Jensen? Is he doing okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. They're going to be discharging him tomorrow to what they call a step-down facility."

"That's good, right? That means he doesn't need to be in the hospital anymore. That's good. Right?" Chad asked. "Uh, what's a step-down?"

"They're going to be sending Jensen to a rehab facility. He's no longer in the danger zone health-wise and his vitals are strong. They say it's time to get him up and moving. I don't know how they plan on doing that since he's partial weight-bearing on his left ankle and non-weight bearing on his entire right leg. He can't use his right arm for anything and his ribs, pelvis, road burn and concussion make everything he moves, hurt."

"Jared, you know that…"

"Why can't they just let him rest and recover and feel warm and safe and comfortable and not be in any fucking pain?" Jared's voice grew louder and higher until his voice caught at the end. "Why can't they leave him the hell alone for a few goddamn days?"

"Do you know where they're sending him?" Chad kept his voice low, which Jared wasn't used to.

"North of here, to a place in Palm Haven called Bay Sun Rehabilitation Center. It's a forty-five minute drive, so he's not that far away."

"Jared, you know that they have to get him going."

"I don't know why it has to hurt. He's on pain killers but they only scratch the surface. Everything, every movement hurts him and I feel—I feel like it's on me." Jared looked squarely at Chad. "I feel like it's all on me."

"The hell?" There's the voice Chad always uses. "What do you mean it's on you? Did you throw him out the window?"

Jared shuddered at the image. "No, but I did the next best thing. I set it up so that he could broadcast that monster storm from his house. If I hadn't gone along with his stupid, stupid plan, he'd be fine. He'd be safe. He'd be unhurt."

"Shit, Jared, why the hell does your mind work like that?"

"Because he asked _me_ to help. Jensen asked _me_ to help him warn the people. If I'd said no—if I had said that I wouldn't be a part of his stupid, stupid plan, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off, and he would have taken cover like he was supposed to."

"He never would have forgiven you if you didn't help him." Chad leveled a stare. "And what you guys have? It'd be over."

"If it kept him safe and unhurt, I might have been willing to make that sacrifice."

"What if someone had died? Because it's likely that at least one of those kids who were caught in storm would have gotten killed if their teacher didn't do what Jensen said, exactly when he said it."

"I would have found a way to blame nature for that."

"No, you wouldn't."

"Yes, I would."

"No, you wouldn't, and Jensen wouldn't have either."

"No, he wouldn't." Jared hung his head. "It's not fucking right that the only one who got seriously hurt was the one who saved everybody else. How is that even fair?"

"It's not," Chad agreed. "Not even a little bit."

"I could tell he had a hard time in therapy today, but he didn't want to tell me. He doesn't ask me to come with him for his sessions and he never tells me how much he hurts, because he doesn't want _me_ to feel bad. Chad, there are goddamn tear tracks, still wet on his face, when he's rolled back to his room. Who the fuck does he think he is?"

"He thinks he's the guy in love with you. Probably thanking all the saints his mother prays to, that _you_ weren't hurt."

"Shut up, Chad."

"You know it's true."

"Shut the hell up. There's no way I'm worth that. Fucking microbursts." Jared's resolve was failing, and his eyes were burning. "Fucking down drafts, fucking shelf clouds and fucking, fucking laser doppler anemometers."

"I don't know what any of those things are, but I do know that Jensen thinks you are worth it. After what he's going through, don't second guess him, and don't "Shut-up, Chad," me."

Chad pretended to look at something on his iPad. Jared took stock of himself and had to admit that what Chad said was true. Jensen would have been devastated if he hadn't been able to broadcast the warnings and someone died. 

An image of a dead teenager confirmed what Jared also knew. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself either. But the truth of the situation remained that Jensen was suffering for them all. 

"Not even a little bit fair," he whispered shaking his head.

"Agreed," Chad responded. "But, going to a step down, that's good, right? That means he doesn't need to be in the hospital anymore. That's good. Right?" 

"Yeah, that is good." Jared forced a smile.

"They might be able to find the right positions, the right exercises and the right cocktail of pain killers for him while he's there, too. Did you ever think of that?"

"I had not."

Chad squinted up at him. "Then do so now."

"You're kinda smart sometimes."

"Don't let Osric hear you say that. I couldn't come close to the kung fu he used to get Jensen on the emergency broadcast system in four counties." Chad looked down at his iPad again. "I'm your friend, Jay. I'm here for you, so, whatever you need from me, the answer is yes. Even if it's a cold beer or a bad joke."

"I know that. I've always known that." 

It took Jared a moment to compose himself, "So, PMC and WBB are playing nicely now, eh? I'll be glad when this project is over and we can have a little down time."

"That's if you call down time driving forty-five minutes to Palm Haven and forty-five minutes back." Chad looked at him sideways.

"Yep, that's what I call down time." Jared smiled for real this time. "But, come Monday, it'll be alright."

Chad beamed back, "And remember, it's always five o'clock somewhere."

"And you know," Jared shrugged, "with all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."

"Amen, Captain Jaybird." Chad shot him a smile. "Amen."

They nodded silently communicating in a way that only best friends for decades could understand.

  



	3. Chapter 3

  


Bay Sun Rehabilitation was a bright, modern rehab center. There were long-term care patients and short-term care patients, like Jensen. It was true that the majority of patients were gray-haired, but Jensen's roommate was actually a few years younger than he was.

When Jared arrived, the lights in the room were dimmed and the shades were drawn. Jensen was lying with the head of the bed up, talking to his roommate, who was sitting in a wheelchair by the shaded window. "Oh, man, I'm so sorry, I don't know what to say. That sucks big time." 

"It does. Sucks about as much as getting blown out of your own bedroom window," the roommate replied with a tight, but sincere, smile.

"Jay," Jensen's eyes softened, and he held out his hand. 

Jared wanted to scoop him up and take him home, but instead, sat on the edge of the bed and reached out gently. Jensen grabbed him close and hugged him to his chest, heaving his casted arm over to keep him there. 

Jensen's eyes shone. With his recently washed hair combed back, and the smile on his face, Jared couldn't help himself. Soft kisses to Jensen's cheeks and eyelids had Jensen making little pleased noises. 

Jared sat back, held Jensen's hands as best he could and said, "Hey."

A small, polite throat-clearing came from the other side of the room.

"Oh," Jensen grinned. "Jared, meet Derrick. Derrick, this is my boyfriend, Jared."

"Pleased to meetcha." Derrick couldn't shake hands as he had double long arm plaster casts. One arm was propped out to the side with some kind of buttressing, and the other was casted up to the shoulder but out straight at the elbow. He also spoke through gritted teeth.

"Derrick was telling me that his are NASCAR injuries." 

"Yep," Derrick agreed. "All NASCAR's fault."

"Man, that's awful," Jared said, scooting close and laying his arm gently around Jensen's shoulders. "That must have been quite a wreck." 

"It was and I was only a spectator," Derrick said. "We were sitting in the bleachers, watching them burn up the asphalt, when a cobalt blue Camaro ZL1 went out of control and spun into the stands."

"Oh, shit. No way."

"Yes, way."

"Did you get hit?" Jared pulled Jensen closer.

"Nope, but the bleachers and all the people sitting on them came crashing down on top of me. Broke my left shoulder, both arms, and my jaw, that's why it's wired shut. I'd kill for a Big Mac." 

Derrick turned his head, showing a surgical dressing at the temple. "Also, got whacked in the head. They had to go in to get rid of some brain bleeding, and that did something to my balance."

"Man, that's rough. When did it happen?" 

"I'm not sure, but they tell me it was around three weeks ago. The bump on the head did a job on my memory, too, but that's getting better."

"Neither one of us like bright lights, so it works out well for us as roommates," Jensen said. "So, in this room, we have injury by bleacher, and injury by garage, since my neighbor's garage fell on me."

"That's kinda oversimplifying it on all counts." Jared noticed the telltale pinch at Jensen's forehead. "Do you need some pain meds?"

"I can't have any for another hour, but I'm okay." 

"He was a champ in therapy today." Derrick's clenched jaw made him a little difficult to understand, but _that_ came through loud and clear.

"A champ?"

"Yeah," Jensen's cheeks and ears flushed bright pink. "They did some x-rays and said I could put some weight on my legs, so they helped me stand in the parallel bars for a few seconds."

"You stood up?"

"Yeah, twice."

Jared looked at Jensen with both awe and affection. "Twice? That's—that's awesome." Then something wet slid down his cheek. "So awesome. I'm so proud of you."

"Stop it, Jay." There was no heat behind the words. 

"So proud."

Derrick, who could propel the wheelchair with his feet, headed for the hallway. "Jared, open the door for me, will ya, man?"

"Sure, no problem. Do you need a hand getting out?"

"No, I'm good. See y'all later."

After Derrick left, Jared closed the door and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Jensen's eyes were half closed. "Can you turn off the lights?"

"Sure thing. Anything else?" 

"Can you—can you…" Jensen scooted over and lifted the blanket. "Can you?"

Jared clicked off the lights, kicked off his sneakers and slid into bed next to Jensen. Jensen heaved a mighty sigh and snuggled close with his head on Jared's shoulder. "Talked to mom again, today. She likes you."

"I like her." Jared nuzzled the top of Jensen's head.

"I miss you, Jay."

"Miss me? I'm right here." 

Jensen shook his head. "No, I miss us. I miss the things we haven’t done yet. I miss us eating steamed shrimp with hot sauce at Crabby Dicks. Or ziti at The Great Impasta. Getting coffee and chocolate croissants at Brewed Awakenings. I miss us checking the weather feeds from West Africa and central Asia, and making up our own Twitter weather hashtags. I miss us walking—I miss walking."

"Jen, this is temporary. Only temporary. It's a story to tell our grand kids."

Jensen buried his head in Jared's shoulder. "I hope so. I hope so."

"You're doing so well. I mean, you're already on your _feet_ again."

Jensen nodded into Jared's chest. "I didn't tell you about the x-rays and maybe getting some weight on my legs in case I couldn't do it."

"But you did do it, and that's a great start. Soon, you'll be on your feet for good, and someday this will be a distant memory. You believe me, don't you?"

Jared felt Jensen smile into his armpit. "Always."

Always. Jared liked the sound of that.

He rocked Jensen slowly in the cradle of his arms. "Don't worry, babe. We'll be going on about Katabatic winds, Noctilucent clouds and Catatumbo lightning in no time."

"I love sun dog halos."

"And sun dogs."

"You promise?" Jensen's eyes were red but dry. 

"I promise. In fact, we should take a trip to Venezuela to _see_ the Catatumbo lightning."

Jensen perked up. "Did you know that the lightning occurs over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo? The lightning originates from a mass of storm clouds at a height of more than one kilometer, and occurs during 140 to 160 nights a year, ten hours a day and up to 280 times per hour." Jensen's voice caught. "God, I miss this."

Jensen sadly laid his head down on Jared's chest. 

"Jen?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm so, so, sorry this happened to you, but you did save lives. Please remember that all this, all you're going through, is not for nothing. There are at least three young people still with their families because of what you did."

"Not just what I did, Jay. What _we_ did. It was a team effort. I don't care how long I live, I'll never forget the unquestioning faith, trust, and confidence you had in me." His eyes were shining when he looked up at Jared. "You put everything, your company, your livelihood, and your reputation on the line. All on my say-so, and for that, I'll always be grateful to you. In case I haven't said it, you're the best boyfriend ever." 

Jensen, without realizing it, wiped away all of Jared's guilt, leaving a frisson of fear behind. Because if Jared had _not_ helped Jensen, the sacrifice he thought he'd be willing to make would have been too much to bear. 

"Hey, Earth to Jared. Where'd you go?" Jensen snuggled close and stroked Jared's arm.

"Nowhere, babe. I'm right here. Always."

As Jensen lightly dozed, Jared said, softly, "Next time I visit, I'll sneak you in something from Lard Have Mercy. Their Foghorn Leghorn bacon wrapped batter fried chicken strips are to die for." 

Through half lidded eyes Jensen said, "Best. Boyfriend. Ever."

  


If getting back up on his feet in week one at Bay Sun was awesome, week two was spectacular.

Jared arrived at his usual mid-afternoon time. Jared did his PMC work at night and through the morning, but the drive up, the four hours he spent with Jensen, and the drive back were sacrosanct.

He pocketed his keys after signing into the facility, and saw Jensen in the lobby sitting in a wheelchair smiling broadly, even though his right leg was out straight. 

"Surprise."

"Hey, look who came to greet me." Jared knelt beside Jensen and kissed him soundly. "How did you make it out here?"

"Look at this." Jensen pointed to the left wheelchair wheel that had two wheel-rims. "By using my left hand on both rims, I don't drive in circles anymore. My left ankle still hurts too much to use it to propel, but it can help me make turns. Once I got the hang of using the two rims, I took off, so here I am."

"There you are," Jared beamed. "It's great to see you getting around."

"Not only that, but Rennie, one of the occupational therapists, gave me this so I can hit the elevator buttons _and_ pick stuff up off the floor." Jensen held his reacher out proudly.

Jared laughed good-naturedly. "You keep going like this and it'll be hard for me to track you down." He stepped behind and took Jensen's wheelchair handles and said, "I hope you don't mind, but I still like to drive." He snuck his head around to kiss Jensen's cheek. "You can navigate."

"Deal," Jensen said, happily placing his left foot on the footrest and his hands in his lap. "You know, this is the first time since the storm that I've been able to get anywhere on my own."

"I hadn't thought of that. It must be a little piece of hell to be at the mercy of your bed, or have to wait for somebody to help you get anywhere." He gently rubbed the top of Jensen's head as he pushed him into the elevator.

"It wasn't so bad when just the _thought_ of moving was horrifying, but I realized that I had no way of getting away from somebody who had onions and garlic for breakfast, so I asked for a set of wheels."

"For breakfast? Eww." Jared slowed and took them out of the elevator and into the sunroom. Jensen's favorite place to watch the weather. 

Jared sat at the window seat, and Jensen took the double wheel and put himself in the sunshine. He tilted his head back, with his face to the sun, and smiled.

"You look great, Jen. How're your headaches?"

"So much better. It seems that we found the right combination and timing of the pain meds, so I'm not groggy or hurting. I'm really glad that sunlight doesn't hurt anymore."

Jensen was pale and thin. There still was bruising on his face and fingers. Every now and then, he'd grimace and readjust his position, nevertheless, he was still the most gorgeous person Jared had ever seen.

Jared rolled his eyes at himself.

"You're looking kind of tired, Jay, and I worry that you're not getting enough sleep. I know you must be working through the night and straight on 'til morning."

"Don't worry about any of that. Red Bull, remember?"

"You say you thrive on it, but I know it's got to be a chore coming out here every day. I would understand if you came every other day. Really."

Jensen wore his brave Number Nineteen, but Jared was good at reading between the smiles. 

"The drive up here gives me a chance to decompress. Being with you gives me peace. Why would I want to give that up?"

"You've got this boyfriend thing down pat, don't you?" Jensen smirked.

"I try." Jared batted his eyes at him. "Did you stand in the parallel bars again today, or do they have you rest in between?"

"We do a little standing every day. I'm what they call weight-bearing as tolerated. Even a little standing is good to stress the bones, it helps them heal. I can't tolerate too much weight-bearing right now, but I'm hoping to try taking steps soon." He winced and shifted his hips. "I wish the pelvis would hurry up and heal, because, now that my head is better, sitting is a bitch."

He looked up, sheepishly. "I don't mean to complain. You don't need to hear about every little ache and pain. I really am feeling much better."

Jared faced Jensen. "First, as far as me coming every day, I _want_ to be here and keep up with how you're doing." He smiled, "Second, I want to hear everything so I'll know when to start counting the days for when you'll be coming home with me."

Jensen put his head back, "I can't wait."

"I wish for it every day."

"Shut up." Jensen took Jared's hand and closed his eyes. 

"Not going to shut up because I can't wait for you to see the new steam shower with a rainfall shower head, the heated towel racks, and the chrome grab bars that I have polished to a freaking shine."

"All for me?"

"And for me." Jared waggled his eyebrows. "I also had a Jacuzzi tub with whirlpool jets and a heat lamp installed in case we want to take a bath instead. "

"Oh, man, I can't wait to soak in that."

"You want to know the best part?"

"There's something better than heated towels and a Jacuzzi?"

"A built-in bar for our new bathroom Keurig coffee maker."

Jensen's mouth dropped open and stared in wonder. Jared thought he saw tears form in the corner of his eyes.

Yep. Jared was getting really good at this boyfriend thing.

  


Misha sat at Jared's kitchen table nursing his cup of breakfast chai tea. "We're currently in a bidding war over a system build for a large internet provider in Chicago, but it looks promising."

Misha sniffed but did not drink his tea. "Our proposal for a total system update for a Milwaukee brewery is polished and ready for Jeff to present. We think it's the tip of the iceberg for growth in the Midwest, so Jeff hired a new sales and marketing manager, targeting Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Also, two international contracts for redesigns came in this month. Jeff's in negotiations with companies from New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates."

"Yeah, I spoke with Jeff last night. It looks like PMC is all the buzz, and we're taking off hotter than we anticipated. I hope we're not getting out too far over our skis." Jared sipped his chocolate milkshake. Jared like to alternate his morning coffee with morning milkshakes. "But, since we're going to be taking on more projects, we're going to need to hire more staff, especially for the domestic jobs. I'd like to contract out for the international work, though."

"Agreed. I'll start taking inventory of what skills we have, what skills we need, where the jobs are physically located, and where we can possibly snag the best and the brightest away from our competitors."

Jared shook his head as he took a large swig of the thick shake. 

"No. Let's recruit from graduating classes first. You never know when we'll need a friend in the industry." Jared's iPhone rang the generic ring tone. "I wouldn't take too kindly to any company who tried to entice Katie to leave us." 

Jared assigned custom ring tones to his friends and special associates. Jensen's ring tone was The Beatles _Good Day Sunshine_. This generic tone indicated that whomever was calling, was someone he didn't know personally. Although he didn't recognize the number, something about it was familiar."

"This is Jared Padalecki."

"Mr. Padalecki, this is Laura Evers, calling from Florida Atlantic Hospital. You were listed as Jensen Ackles's emergency contact."

Jared dropped his glass, spilling chocolate milkshake all over the tabletop. "Yes, yes, I am. What's happened? Is Jensen alright?"

"He's been readmitted to the hospital. Mr. Ackles's physicians will fill you in when you get here. Please go to the information desk at Emergency Room entrance and they'll direct you."

"Is he…is he alright? Is he going to be okay? What happened?"

"I don't have that information, sir, but the staff will answer your questions when you get here."

Misha took the phone from Jared's hand. "Thank you, we'll be there shortly." He ended the call. 

"I'll drive."

  


Jared lived fifteen minutes from Florida Atlantic Hospital—if that. Why was the drive taking four hours?

"I saw him yesterday, Misha. He was doing great. He was pushing his own wheelchair, and standing in the parallel bars every day. We were talking about when he'd be coming home. What could have happened in that time?"

"Jared, darling, please calm down. We'll find out soon."

"What if he fell and hit his head? What if he developed a lung or spleen infection they didn't know was brewing?" Jared's thoughts went darker. "What if they couldn't wake him up this morning?"

"All good questions. I'll drop you off in front and go park. I'll come find you." 

Misha pulled Jared's Jeep over to the ER entrance. "I'll valet park. Go."

Jared ran inside only to be daunted by the long line at the ER information desk. 

"No. Please, no." Jared looked side to side to see how he could force his way to the front.

Then, the Physician's Assistant Jared recognized from Dr. Brown's office, came over. "Hey, Jared, I'm Marty, I work with Doc Brown."

"Yes, yes I remember you."

"The doc asked me to find you and let you know what's going on."

Dr. Brown was the surgeon who best how to put Jensen's bones back in place. "Did something happen to Jensen's leg?"

Misha ran over. "Hi, Marty," he panted.

"Hey, Mish."

Jared briefly wondered how Marty and Misha knew one another. 

Marty said to Misha, "Why don't you wait here while I talk to Jared."

"Darned HIPPA," Misha mumbled.

"Go, let's go." Jared bit his tongue to keep from yelling. "Now." 

Marty steered them down the hallway towards the doctor's offices.

"So, first off, Jensen isn't in any danger, but he is back in surgery."

"Why? What happened? What _happened?_ " 

Marty took them into an empty office and closed the door. "Jared, breathe and listen, okay?"

Jared hadn't realized his breathing had become erratic. He sat and tried like crazy to calm down.

"We've been following Jensen's progress at Bay Sun Rehab, as Dr. Brown is still his orthopedist. We took x-rays, and the bones in his ankle, wrist and femur were healing well, as expected, so we allowed for Jensen to bear some weight in standing."

"To stress the bones, he said. So they'd heal faster, he said." Jared tried to keep the worry out of his voice.

"That's right. However, his right knee, the one that sustained a lot of soft tissue damage in the accident, gave out during standing practice and he fell."

"Shit, oh shit." Jared was afraid that his chocolate shake was going to make a sudden and messy appearance. "How could this happen? You said the x-rays looked good."

"X-rays only image bone, not tendons and ligaments." Marty scanned through a folder on the desk. "We reviewed the notes from the therapy session, and it looked like an accident. Jensen's knee brace was on and applied properly. However, the brace didn't totally immobilize his knee as we did allow up to 30 degrees of knee flexion. The therapist used a gait belt, the wheelchair was locked and right behind him, all precautions were in place. The therapist's hands were on him the whole time. But his knee gave out and he went down like a box of rocks."

"Why is he in surgery, and what does this mean for his recovery?" 

"The doc knows Jensen's knee better than anyone. He went in to repair the damaged tendons and some newly torn ligaments. Tendons attach muscle to bone; ligaments attach bone to bone." Marty smiled, gently. "I know it sounds like a lot, but it won't set him all the way back to the beginning. Everything else is still healing, and he didn't hit his head."

Jared whooshed out a breath. "Thank God. So, he'll still be able to walk when this is all over?"

Marty hesitated before saying, "I'm not his doctor, and the surgery is in progress right now, so I can't give you a prognosis. I'm not saying this to cover my ass, I honestly don't know what damage was done and what Doc Brown is looking at in there."

And that's when Jared's chocolate milkshake reappeared.

  


Jared knew Jensen's health wasn't in any danger. He knew the surgery went well, and that Jensen would be waking up soon. But Jared was sick and tired of watching Jensen wake up in pain, because that was the recipe. First, you wake up in agony and then assign a number from one to ten to that agony, and then they medicate you.

Jensen turned his head to the side and moaned. His eyes were roaming under his lids, so Jared knew it wouldn't be long.

Instead of encouraging Jensen to wake up, Jared kept silent giving Jensen a few more moments of relief.

First a groan, then a gasp. Jensen's eyes flew open, and Jared pressed the call button.

"Holy shit, holy _shit_." Jensen's eyes went wide and his heart monitor screamed. 

"Hey, hey, Jen, hold on, they're coming with the good stuff." Jared soothed. "Take it easy, it's okay."

"Not okay. Not okay." Jensen looked down frantically at his right knee. "Shit, Jay, _shit_." 

Jared's thumb was mercilessly stabbing the call button, even though the call light was already on and pressing it more than once was pointless. 

A nurse with graying hair appeared in the room and without asking Jensen for a number, administered a dose of something into his IV. She smiled sweetly, "There, hon, that should do you."

Within seconds, Jensen settled. 

The nurse looked at Jared. "I know a ten when I see it. Let me know if he needs anything else. I'm right outside."

She slid out the door while Jensen came back to himself. 

Jared watched as Jensen calmed. He zeroed his eyes onto Jared.

"What's the bottom line?" Jensen asked.

"Your knee tore on the inside. They had to repair the tendons and ligaments that hold it together." Jared bit his bottom lip. "You've had a setback, and you will probably have some limitations, but everyone seems positive."

"My knee tore?"

"Yeah, the tendons and ligaments that had been repaired from the initial injury were reinjured when you fell in the parallel bars. Tendons attach muscle to bone; ligaments attach bone to bone."

"You don't seem too positive. Did I do something else bad?"

Jared pressed his lips together and stood. "You pushed yourself too hard. Your therapist came and talked to me. She was a mess. She said you pushed and pushed until you finally cracked. Why, Jen? Why did you do that?"

Jensen squeezed his eyes shut. "Everyone says I'm brave. Everyone says I'm strong. Sometimes they even say I'm lucky. Every day someone is complimenting me and telling me how good I'm doing."

He opened his eyes. "And you. You praise me when I push myself a few feet in a wheelchair or stand, fully supported, for five seconds. Like it's some great feat."

"Jensen."

"I get congratulated for every little, normal thing, like getting toothpaste on my toothbrush instead of all over my clothes. I get recognized and thanked a dozen times a day, but Jared, you know what? I don't feel strong or brave, and I sure as hell don't feel lucky. I feel damaged, like, everywhere. Every piece of me is moving in a way that hurts. I don't deserve their appreciation, I don't want their platitudes, I just want to be normal and not broken all to bits. So, I push to get there." Jensen's eyes filled. "I fucked that up, and now you're not too happy with me. I get it."

"I'm not…"

"Go home, Jared."

Jared sighed. "Jen."

"Jared. Go home. I want to be alone." He closed his eyes and turned his head. "I mean it. Go away and give me some space. I don't want you here." 

Jared stood and looked at the floor. "Okay, I'll go if you want, but, for the record, I don't think you fucked up. I'm not happy that you pushed yourself, but only because you got hurt. And when you hurt, I hurt, but this isn't about me. It's about you getting back up on the horse."

"The horse left the stall a long time ago, and I don't have it in me. I can't do this anymore, Jared, and I don't want you around to witness my failures. Now, leave." 

"I hear you, I do, but you know what? Amazing people, all throughout history, have suffered through devastation and failures and wanted to quit, but in the end, they succeeded. They were ordinary people, like you, forced to face daunting circumstances, like _you_. But not **one** of these people were any **better** than you. They never gave up, and now you can't give up. Never give up, Jensen. Never give up. Never surrender."

Jensen cracked one eye open. 

"Not only that, but one of our greatest heroes of all time never gave up. Remember, Jensen, Batman never gave up."

"What?"

"The Batman. He never gave up. Even after his parents were killed, and even after George Clooney, he never gave up." Jared raised both hands. "And Inigo Montoya never gave up looking for his father's six-fingered killer—even scripting the encounter with the killer by saying, "Hello. My name in Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." 

Jensen lifted his head. "That's from _The Princess Bride._ " 

"Inconceivable," Jared nodded. "Back when Cary Elwes was so hot it scalded your eyes to look at him." 

"I remember." Jensen nodded back. "Even when he was Robin Hood, Men in Tights."

"And the not-so-nice FBI boss in _The X-Files_." 

"And the bad-guy storm-chaser in _Twister_. Let me tell you, there were some pretty far-fetched tornado " _facts_ " in that movie." Jensen used his left hand to make quotey fingers. "But I did chuckle when the cows were blown around."

"Know who else?" Jared slowly sat. "Luke Skywalker."

"Luke Skywalker?"

"That's right. He didn't quit, even after the stormtroopers killed Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru and he found out he was the son of the evilest dark Lord in the universe. Plus, he got his hand cut off." 

"He used to bullseye womp rats." 

"And they're not much bigger than two meters." Jared added.

Jensen had a tiny grin. "Hey, I think Luke Skywalker voices cartoons now." 

"That's right, Jensen." Jared said, looking steadily into Jensen's eyes. "Luke Skywalker voices cartoons now."

There was a full and poignant pause.

"And there's something else you should know," Jared said, scooting closer.

"What's that?" 

Jared took Jensen's hand. "I changed my mind. I'm not going away, even though you told me to." He kissed the bruised knuckles of the casted right hand. "You've had a very rough go, and I'm not leaving. Not for a day. Not for a night. Not ever."

Jensen closed his eyes. "Even if I act like a big baby?"

"Uh uh." Jared shook his head. "Nope."

"Even if I tell you to leave, and that I don't want you here?" Jensen's damp green eyes stared into Jared's. His voice caught on the last word.

"Sorry. Staying."

Jensen swallowed twice. "You might want to go home and take a shower, though. It looks like you spilled milkshake all over your shirt. "

"Well, maybe I'll go home and change, you know, to be polite." Jared tipped Jensen's head toward him and kissed him gently.

Jensen pulled himself over, hissed in pain, but moved close enough to bury his head in Jared's stomach. Jared wrapped his arms around him, feeling the tremors and the shaking of someone lost, sad, in pain, and frightened. 

And of someone who was loved so very much. 

"Jensen, remember something else. The two of us? As David Soul once sang, we won't give up on us, baby."

Jensen blinked, "He did?"

"Well, sort of." Jared grinned. "And he was right. We won't give up on us."

"Are you sure?" Jensen stifled a yawn.

"We can't. It's written in the moonlight and painted on the stars."

Jared hugged Jensen tight as his eyes closed to a drugged half-mast. 

"I guess if it's painted on the stars," Jensen slurred. "Kiss me now before I drift all the way off, and, maybe be here when I wake up?"

"I'll be here."

"Groovy." 

Jared kissed him and hummed the chorus as Jensen dropped off to sleep.

  



	4. Chapter 4

  


After that unfortunate incident, Jensen was as good as gold. He returned to Bay Sun Rehab and was both happy and sad to discover that Derrick had gone home. In his place was an elderly gentleman who slept most of the time.

When Jared came for his Thursday visit, to his surprise, he was directed to the therapy department. 

"I've never been to any of his therapy sessions, and I'm not sure Jensen wants me there. It's okay, I'll wait in his room."

"I don't know," a young woman dressed in purple scrubs said. "I'm one of Jensen's caregivers and he specifically asked me to keep a lookout for you and get you to therapy."

"He did?" Jared smiled so hard his face crackled. "Well, please lead the way."

Even in the late afternoon, the large therapy gym was bustling with therapeutic activities. Over in the corner, on a mat table, Jensen lay supine, lifting weights with his left arm. There were weighted cuffs on his left ankle. The young therapist, Dee, whom Jared had met in the hospital in tears, was instructing Jensen. 

Jared casually sauntered over. "Hey, you."

Jensen lit up. "Oh, good. You're here." He glanced at Dee. "Are you ready?"

"Sure am." 

"What's going on?" Jared asked, still smiling.

"I'm going to show you how best to help Jensen transfer into and out of the wheelchair." She removed the weights and put them aside. "He's non-weightbearing on the right leg, and weight bearing as tolerated on the left."

Jensen looked both smug and shy as he sat up, without help, on the edge of the mat.

She continued, "Then I'm going to show you how to maneuver his wheelchair up steps and curbs. And then, we're going to practice automobile transfers, so you'll have to bring your car around."

"Jeep," Jensen said.

"You'll have to bring your Jeep around."

"Don't get me wrong," Jared said. "I think this is all great, but why now. I mean, why this afternoon?"

Jensen looked at the therapist, then to Jared. "It's so you'll know what to do when you take me home tomorrow."

All the air rushed out of Jared's lungs. He sat heavily next to Jensen on the mat. "Is that true? You're not shitting me, are you?" He clapped his hand over his mouth, looked at Dee and said, "I'm sorry."

He turned back to Jensen, "Please don't be shitting me." 

"I'm not, I swear."

"Oh, thank God." Jared threw his arms around Jensen, hugging him so hard he almost lifted him up off the mat. "Finally." 

"Whoa, whoa, wait for all the manhandling until we get home." Jensen was smiling ear to ear. 

"Home. Oh my God, Jensen, you're coming home. That sounds amazing." But then, Jared looked at Jensen, his knee brace immobilizing his right knee, the casted arm and braced right elbow, and the wheelchair he was expected to help Jensen get into and out of. It all looked so frightening, but to have Jensen home with him, Jared could do anything. 

"You're looking scared," Jensen said, playfully. "Having second thoughts about me renovating the master bedroom?"

Jared shook himself out of it. "Never. Just make it match our new bathroom."

When the therapist went to get Jensen's wheelchair. Jared leaned in close. "Don't let me hurt you. Make sure I don't hurt you."

"You won't." Jensen leaned up and nuzzled into his neck. "But I'll make sure."

"This is awesome. It's like a dream come true." Jared chuckled, "God, I am a sap. I'm the sappiest sap whoever sapped."

"Yeah, but, you're my sap." Jensen grinned.

"I am." Jared kissed him again. "I really, really am."

"So, if you think you're ready to take me on," Jensen beamed up at him. "then, take me home."

  


"That was great, Jay. You're like an old pro at this." Jensen smoothed the sheets around him. "It feels so good to be clean and comfortable and _here_."

Jared's arms were still shaking. Not from exertion, but from the fear that he'd make a wrong move and drop Jensen. However, Jensen was right. It all went surprisingly well. 

Jared cleared his throat. "Aw, that's because you're so easy. And I might add, that that's one of your most charming qualities." He sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "Hey, you want a pop tart? I got your favorites. You know, the frosted kind."

"No, I'm good. I'm great, honestly. You handled all the transfers and bathing and helping me dress exactly right. And that rainfall showerhead is amazing."

"I did everything right?" Jared tried not to sound too proud.

"You did. I was afraid that I'd feel embarrassed or shy or helpless with you helping me, but I didn't. You put me at ease, let me call the shots and you… you just went with it. You were awesome." 

Jensen swallowed and said, softly, "Have I told you lately that I love you? Van Morrison version this time." 

Jared lay down on top of the covers next to him. "I can't believe you're finally here. I'm so glad you're home." He ran his fingertips over the hairline scar where the stitches were and gently rubbed his thumbs high on Jensen's cheeks where there were still the light yellow and green hints of bruising. When he looked into Jensen's clear, green eyes, his own eyes suddenly blurred. His breaths started coming in short, sharp gasps.

"What is it, Jared? What's wrong?" Jensen sat up.

"Stop, stop. It's okay. Everything's okay." Jared couldn't halt the huge, gulping sobs. "It's okay, It's okay. It's all okay."

"Not believing you here, Jay." 

"We almost _lost_ you. _I_ almost lost you." Jared gave into the tears as Jensen pulled Jared's head onto his chest. "You almost _died_."

"Shh, shh, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," Jensen crooned. "The scary part is over, it's only the work that's left. But we'll be okay. I'll be okay. We got this." 

Jared threw his arms around him, and Jensen rocked them back and forth making shushing sounds and giving gentle kisses.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." Jared buried his head in Jensen's chest.

"No, babe, I'm sorry." Jensen brushed Jared's hair away from his eyes. "I am so sorry."

Jared wiped his eyes and nose on his shirt sleeve. "Don't say that. You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing."

"Yes, I do. All this time you've been worried about me, staying with me, supporting me, talking to the doctors and therapists and nurses. Taking _care_ of me. Every day you put up with my moods, my aches, and my general snarkiness." Jensen smiled sadly. "And nobody has been taking care of you."

"That's not true."

"No, I can't imagine what it must have been like for you after they dug me out and got me to the hospital. Then one surgery after another. I don't remember any of the early ones, but you do."

Jared looked down. "I do. Everything. I remember everything."

"Then, you spent hours driving to see me, sometimes just sitting with me, then making the drive back. And because you spent your days with me, you had to stay up all night working on your projects to make a living. Then, I go and do something stupid that sets me back, and there you are when I wake up, ready to pick up the pieces and move forward." Jensen wiped at his eyes. "I mean, you even invoked The Batman. You have been my rock, Jared, my anchor in this storm, and I haven't been there for you at all."

"You have been there. All along, working hard to get better. Now, all you have to do is just be here."

"You're wrong. We're a team, and I haven't been pulling my weight. But I swear to you that I'll do better from now on. I'll be there for you. Making _you_ feel safe, making _you_ feel special, making _you_ pop tarts."

"I wish with all my heart that this hadn't happened to you."

"I know."

"I can't help but wish I didn't help you." Jared's mouth was running off on its own, and he was powerless to stop it. "Chad said you'd never have forgiven me if I didn't help you with the broadcast, especially if someone had died. But, when I think about them bringing in heavy machinery to get you out from under the wreckage…when I see you wince when you move the wrong way, and when you try hiding your pain from me, I wonder if I made the right choice. Knowing that making that choice _not_ to help you, you probably would have left me.

"Seeing you here, so glad you're and alive and in my bed, I feel as though I've traded your well-being for my desire to have you with me. Am I pathetic, or plain insane?"

"Neither, Jay. You just love me." Jensen cocked his head to the left and gave a half smile. "Which is fortunate since I love you right back. How did we get so lucky?" Jensen shrugged. "Whatever choices we made in the past are past. I do know we made a good choice with us, because now we have our whole future to look forward to. You said something about grand kids, remember?"

"I remember."

"Then get your pajamas on, get under the covers with me and let's get this future started."

"You're on."

  


"Well, Jensen, welcome to your eight-week check-up. I have some good news for you."

Doc Brown sat at his desk. Jensen sat in his wheelchair with Jared standing nervously behind him.

"You can sit down now, Jay. He said it was good news." Jensen canted his head to his right indicating the chair next to him.

Jared took his beanie off, jammed it in his pocket and sat. 

"We've poked and prodded you and found that, overall, you're healing nicely."

"Overall?" Jensen asked.

"That's right. How does your pelvis feel? Pretty good, right?"

"Now that you mention it, it does."

"And the headaches, are they gone?"

"Yes, they are."

Jared nodded next to him.

"That's good. There doesn't look like there's been any repercussions regarding your chest or spleen surgeries at all." The doctor clicked through the computer screens, reading without looking up. "Your pelvis, ribs and fingers are almost all healed. We're going to remove the plaster cast from your right wrist and fingers and replace it with a removable wrist support so that you can start moving it and using it again. You'll probably only need the new splint for a couple of weeks. We're going to replace the cast on your left ankle with an air splint and a walking boot. You are full weight bearing as tolerated on that, now." He looked up and smiled. 

Jared smiled back. Jensen looked pensive.

"The skin damage shows total granulation—that's skin healing—and the right femur is knitting well, although it's taking longer to fully mend due to the non-weight bearing status of your knee. That's expected, and I don't foresee any problems with the femur or the healing process." He paged down the screen.

"Now, your right elbow is healing well, but it is still healing, so we don't want you bearing any weight on that, yet. However, we're ready for therapy to get it going. That elbow was dislocated pretty severely, and you will feel a twinge when you ask it to do too much, but I don't anticipate a whole lot of inconvenience after the healing is complete." 

The doctor removed his reading glasses and faced them. "Which brings me to the status of your right knee. "

Jensen tensed and Jared lay his hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be honest, when I first repaired that knee, shortly after the accident, I crossed my fingers for luck, hoping it would remain stable and heal well. Deep down, I always felt that sooner or later, we'd have to do some tissue replacement surgery, possibly using synthetic materials for grafts for the ligaments. After your fall in the parallel bars, I had no choice but to rebuild the stabilizing structures. It is healing, and appears to be healing well—slowly, but surely. Unfortunately, you need to remain non-weight bearing on that leg, and, without the use of your right arm to support you—even a platform walker would put too much pressure on your elbow—you'll need to stay in your wheelchair for at least three, possibly four more weeks." 

While Jared was silent, digesting the information, Jensen asked, "What about after? Is my knee permanently screwed? Will I be able to walk like a normal human being, or will I continue to be a ball and chain to those I love?"

Jared swung his head around to stare at Jensen. Where the hell did that come from?

Dr. Brown sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I expect you will do well enough to walk without an assistive device. Although, you probably won't be able to do things like mountain biking or rock climbing. But," he shifted his eyes between Jared and Jensen, "you're young. You have friends and family; you'll figure it out without the rock climbing."

Jared stared at the floor, while Jensen nodded to himself.

"You're doing well, son. Certainly, considering how banged up you were when you first got here. Do either of you have any more questions? "

Jared looked up to speak, but one look from Jensen silenced him.

"Not at this time, doc. Thank you." Jensen used his left arm and two wheel-rims to wheel himself out the door and down the hall. 

Doc Brown clapped Jared on the back and left, leaving Jared standing alone in the orthopedist's office wondering if the news they'd gotten was good or bad.

  


Jensen's home physical therapist came around nine in the morning, three days a week. Even though Jensen had graduated from the intensive in-patient Bay Sun rehab, Jared driving Jensen to an outpatient clinic three times a week was still too much on him. So, his doctor arranged for therapy to come to the home until he could manage the drive without ending up a sweating, shaking mess.

On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, Jared woke early to put the coffee on before helping Jensen shower and dress. 

Jensen picked up his finger-sized piece of the toasted Everything bagel with veggie cream cheese when he looked up. 

"What?" Jared wore a tentative smile. Jensen looked particularly intense this morning. He had hardly spoken, except to softly thank Jared over and over for every little thing. 

"These are the perfect size for me to pick up with one hand. They have the exact amount of cream cheese and the coffee is just right."

"The coffee is black. What's up with you?"

"The shower was the perfect temperature. You helped me transfer to the shower chair and into my wheelchair exactly right. You helped me dress, put my braces and splints on and didn't bat an eye. Did I mention that you were perfect?"

"No, I'm not calling Shayna to tell her not to come."

"I don't want you to." Jensen paused, blinking up at Jared. "You put me first every day, and I just…I've interrupted the flow of your whole life. I don't know how I can…"

Jared stood like a shot. "You'd better not say that you don't know how you can thank me, or worse yet, how you can repay me. You'd better not say _anything_ like that."

Jensen played with his bagel piece.

"Jensen, how many times do I have to tell you? We're a team, remember? _You_ said that. A _team_. I'm getting sick and tired of you thinking you're somehow putting me out. I'm also a hair annoyed having to reassure you all the time, too. What more do I have to say to convince you?" 

Jensen looked away. 

Jared took a breath and counted to ten. In a calm, measured way, he lowered himself back into the chair.

"Jensen, we'll work through this. Okay? There's no doubt that you're going to have to help _me_ through some tough situations during the course of our lives together. So, _can_ it. Please."

"You're mad." Jensen's voice hitched. "I'm sorry."

"No, man, I'm not mad, but I am frustrated. I don't get how _you don't get_ that caring for you is not a chore. I help you out, yeah, but I still work in the office, I meet with the team, and communicate with clients about improving our products. I tele-meet with Misha and Jeff, and discuss how we can expand our business. Your being here hasn't stopped any of that."

"I slow you down."

"Only in the shower. As far as helping you out, Jensen, each day you improve is a win. So, I repeat: _Can_ it."

The doorknocker boomed and Jared got up to let Shayna, the physical therapist, in. She was short and stocky, with tight black curls and a laugh that rebounded throughout the house. 

"Hey, guys. How are y'all doing this morning? Ready to rock and roll, Jensen?"

"I guess." 

"I got good news, your doctor said that it was time to start working on weight bearing through your elbow so you can use crutches. And, we get to work your knee."

Jared perked up at that. "We do?"

"Yep. I'm going to be taking off the knee brace and starting some range of motion exercises. Then, we'll begin some light resistance and then on to weight bearing." Shayna put her equipment bag down and knelt down to Jensen's level. "I'll be moving your knee passively at first and then you'll be moving it with me. Easy does it, though. Let me know if it starts to hurt, and we'll stop. Pretty soon, though, you'll be getting out of this wheelchair."

"Will I still have to wear the brace every day?" Jensen asked, softly.

"For a while." Shayna looked out the picture window at the ocean and Jared's private pool. "However, you'll be able to take it off to use the pool if Jared helps you in and out. That's a great way to exercise your joints."

"I don't know," Jensen peeked up at Jared. "I'm pretty heavy to be getting in and out of the pool."

Of course, Jared couldn't let that pass. He looked at Shayna and then to Jensen and sang, "But, I'm strong. Strong enough to carry him. He ain't heavy…he's my lover."

"Oh, no, you did not just say that." Shayna dissolved into high pitched giggles.

Jared saw how hard it was for Jensen to work up a smile. Something was bothering him. Jared resolved that he would let Jensen talk it out the next time they sat down together. But, honestly, he was tired of assuring and reassuring Jensen after every little thing he did for him. Taking care of Jensen wasn't a burden. Surely his singing made that clear? 

He probably shouldn't've snapped at Jensen, though.

  


Jared didn't know what woke him. The full moon brightened the sleep-cool bedroom, the ceiling fan whirred silently and Jensen was snoring softly beside him. 

Except that Jensen wasn't snoring.

"Hey, Jen," Jared whispered. "What's up? Is everything okay?"

Jensen was lying on his left side, propped up by the pillows Jared placed to keep him comfortable. He was facing Jared with his eyes closed and tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Hey, hey, I'm going to put the light on, okay."

"No, don't. Please." Jensen's voice was so soft Jared could barely hear it.

"Okay, okay." He scooted closer a couple of inches, but only a couple as Jensen flinched.

"You're hurting. Let me get you something." Jared carefully stood without disturbing him. Sometimes Jensen had break-through pain when the weather was damp or if he had a tough PT session. Today, it was both. Another half dose of his pain meds was needed to knock it back. 

He measured out the dosage, filled a glass of water and knelt on one knee by the bedside. 

"Here, babe. This'll help you get back to sleep."

Jensen shook his head again. 

"What? What is it, Jen?"

"You're gonna…you're not…and then you won't…" and to Jared's dismay, Jensen dissolved into uncontrollable sobs. 

"Jensen, what's wrong? Is it your knee? Is the pain that bad?" Jared's hands began shaking. "Do we need to go to the ER?"

Jensen looked miserable. "N-no. No hospital." But the crying was physically hurting him so Jared needed to make it stop.

He forced himself to be calm. "Please then, please, talk to me. Was the workout too rough today? Tell me what's going on, sweetheart, so I can fix it."

_Sweetheart?_

Jensen looked up at Jared with wide, wet eyes. "You're going to leave me."

Well, that wasn't what Jared was expecting.

"Where am I going?"

"Look at me. I can't get dressed, can't prepare food, or even go to the bathroom without help. After a whole three months, you still have to do everything for me. _Everything_."

Still not understanding what Jensen was getting at, Jared latched onto one thing that made sense.

"Oh, the bathroom. Do you need to use the bathroom?" Jared got up to get the wheelchair. "'I'll help you with that right now." 

"No. Stop. No." Jensen's sobs became intense, interspersed with little gasps of pain.

Jared paced around the darkened room. "Don't cry, Jensen. Please tell me what's wrong."

"Stop it. You—you're doing it again. You always do that." Jensen brought his splinted wrist up to cover his face.

"I'll stop, babe. If you tell me what I'm doing, I swear I'll stop it." 

Jared was completely lost.

"You're going to get so tired, and I don't blame you." Jensen sniffed and said, "I _won't_ blame you, Jared. I want you to know that I won't blame you. I'll understand and I won't hold it against you."

"You won't?" Jared needed to get a clue out of him, and that question seemed to calm him down.

"No, Jay, no. I won't. I'll understand. I will." He nodded vigorously. "I really will."

Jared ran back bits and pieces of the conversation in his head, but came up empty.

"You really will, what?" 

Jensen huffed, which made Jared happy because that huff was Jensen's huff.

"I will _understand_."

"You will understand…" Jared made a _go on_ gesture.

The corners of Jensen's mouth turned down, and his chin quivered, but he was able to keep calm and carry on. He gave Jared a sad smile and said, "I know you're glad I didn't die when I got blown out of my house and dropped two stories. I know you think you can handle what has happened to me, but these injuries could affect me for the rest of my life. The doc's not sure my knee will ever heal properly, and we really don't know how well I'll heal at all. I'm afraid that I'll end up becoming a burden to those around me, especially you. So, I think it would be best if you and I ended this relationship now before you're…before you are forced to…I love you and never want to hurt you and I know asking me to leave will hurt you, so I'll go without you asking." Jensen couldn't continue as soft sobs overtook him.

Jared felt ice water run through his veins as he slumped to the floor next to the bed.

Huh?

What? 

Jensen was breaking up with him?

This time Jared took a moment and ran the entire conversation over in his head starting from the _I won't blame you._

Oh.

_Oh._

"Christ, Jensen. You scared me." Jared wished he had a paper bag to breathe into. How did he not realize until this very moment, that Jensen was a giant dummy? 

He rolled up to his knees and stared Jensen in the eye. "Jesus H. Christ, man, I thought you were dying."

"I feel like it sometimes."

Jared found the water glass and the pill and handed them to Jensen.

"Take this and listen."

Jensen huffed again, wiped his eyes, and dutifully took the pain medication.

Jared got up and sat cross legged on the bed facing Jensen.

"Now, let me get this straight."

"Jared, I know that…"

"You had your turn. Let me talk."

Jensen glanced away, tears still leaking from his eyes. Well, Jared couldn't have that, so he took the pads of his thumbs and brushed them away. 

"Okay, now listen to me and see if I'm getting this straight."

Jensen waited.

"You think I will break off our relationship, at some undetermined time in the future, because of the help you currently need. You are afraid that your knee, and maybe other body parts, won't heal properly, and I'll consider you a burden, so, because you love me and don't want to hurt me, you'll leave now so I won't have to go through the emotionally painful process of kicking you out later. That sound right?"

Jensen blinked twice. "Yes, that was very, uh, succinct. Yeah." Jensen said, impressed.

Jared could tell that the stress levels were going down to manageable levels, so maybe they could have this conversation.

"So, do you see a flaw in this plan?"

Jensen looked pensive. "No. Do you?"

"You're missing a long string of code in this program."

"I don't think so. See, you might not think…"

"I'm doing the talking."

"But you asked a question."

"It was rhetorical."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't."

" _Jensen_. I love you. I. Love. You. That's the factor you left out when forming your big, let's-save-Jared-the-trouble-of-kicking-me-out, plan. I am so fucking glad that you are here, huffing at me, that I don't care how long it takes you to get on your feet again. I don't care if you never get on your feet again because you know what?"

"No, what?" Jensen was dewy eyed but no tears.

"When you first got hurt, and all the doctors and nurses were trying so hard to keep you…" Shit, now where did that lump in his throat come from? "…alive, I asked outright if you would ever walk again. When they said that you probably would, do you know what I said?"

"No," Jensen said in a tiny voice.

"I said I was glad that I wouldn't have to haul your heavy ass around, but that I would. I would gladly push, pull, lift, haul or do anything to keep you with me. I said I'd buy you a bitchin' set of wheels if you needed them."

"You did?"

"I said to Doc Brown, and I'll say to you, that I'm in this for the long haul. Unless," a sad thought occurred to him. "unless _you've_ had enough of _me_ , and _that's_ why you want to leave."

Jared's eyes went wide. "Oh, God, Jensen, have I been overbearing? Have I been thoughtless because I was trying to be supportive, when actually I was diminishing your sense of independence, dignity, and self-worth?"

"You're a fool." Jensen interrupted.

Jared blinked. Jensen's eyes had dried up, and there was faint amusement in the turn of his lips.

"I'm a fool?"

"If you think I'm anything but grateful for all the care you've given me, then yes. You are a fool."

"Well, so are you."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"You're right, I am." Jensen deflated. "I don't want to be a drain on you and that's what I feel I am. Nothing you have ever done or said has made me feel anything but loved." He smiled warmly at Jared. "These feelings are all internal, but they're real to me. I feel useless, and can't imagine ever walking properly or using my limbs right, or living without something hurting. But the most excruciating pain would be you telling me that you'd had enough. I don't want to go through that, but more than that, I don't want _you_ to go through that."

"Then, let's cross that off our list. I'm sure we'll have our ups and downs, but I ain't goin' nowhere." Jared became serious, "Do you feel like you're dying sometimes?"

"Only when I imagine you leaving me, and I buy into it."

"That's why we're crossing it off."

"You're sure?" Jensen asked in that tiny voice again.

"I'm sure."

"Then I'll cross it off. "

"Well, good. I'm glad we have _that_ settled. Even though I thought that was settled a while back." Jared smiled and forced his dimples on Jensen. 

"I didn't factor in," Jensen closed his eyes—when the pain meds had kicked in, they made him sleepy—"I also didn't factor in how much I love you and would miss you if I made you leave."

Pain meds also made _him_ sappy.

"You'll heal, Jensen. You're healing now. You will get better. Even if you don't get all better, we'll be good. We'll be better than good, we'll be golden."

"You mean it?" Jensen's eyes were drooping.

"We'll be walking in fields of gold." Jared scooted up and kissed him gently until Jensen began snoring. 

_I know it's true because we're golden right now._

  


"Okay. Time to get your heavy ass out of the pool. You're turning into a prune."

"My heavy ass? _My_ heavy ass? You're the one, uh, with the heavy ass." 

"Snappy comeback, man," Jared snickered.

Jensen had begun using crutches, but only sparingly. The tenderness he still felt in his elbow and forearm, and the fear of hurting his knee again, made him skittish. Which suited Jared just fine. However, Jensen was able to transfer everywhere all on his own, even into and out of the Jacuzzi. 

Getting out of the pool still required some additional manpower, though. And some strategically placed towels.

Once Jensen was showered and safely seated, Jared said, "So, it's early, and we should take a drive."

"We should?"

"You know, for fun. Like a fun ride. Possibly ending with ice cream. And hey, you could use your crutches to do what your therapist said about walking in _less familiar and unfamiliar environments_."

"I would do that for ice cream. And a fun ride? You know, I can't remember the last time we went anywhere for fun. No doctor visits, no outpatient therapy, just out for a ride." Jensen said, "It's about time."

"Don't forget the ice cream part." 

"I didn't. Can we go to _What's the Scoop_? I love their maple walnut ice cream with wet walnuts, Oreo pieces and walnut halves." Jensen looked off into the ocean dreamy eyed.

"You're a walnut whore. I was thinking _Ice Cream Fundae._ I'm in the mood for some hot salted caramel poured over French vanilla ice cream with sliced bananas, fresh blueberries and pineapple." Jared was drooling already.

"Naw, too healthy with all that fruit, but you know who makes the best double churned mocha ice cream with caramel glaze, pecans and whipped cream?"

They looked at one another and said, _"The Dreamery Creamery."_

"As long as I can have walnuts added to it, I'm in. Let's go." Jensen reared back on the wheels and jetted out of the house, Jared jogging close behind.

  


Jared had traded in his old green Jeep Wrangler for a white Jeep Grand Cherokee. Jensen's car, a BMW Z4 convertible, sat safely in Jared's garage waiting for when Jensen could use the stick again.

Jared had Jensen's crutches, and Jensen loaded into the car when his phone burst into a chorus of _Margaritaville_. Jared's Jeep let Jared talk and drive, as he backed out of his driveway.

"Hey Chad, what's up?"

"Jayman, I'm at the WBB station tweaking one of the software patches Osric uploaded."

"And?"

"See, the thing is, uh, I mean it's not a big thing, but there's still a thing."

"English Chad. Full sentences." Jared hung a left, pointing the wheels towards _The Dreamery Creamery._

"I need you for five minutes. That's all. Eight minutes tops. With that big brain of yours, you'll be out in four."

Jared sighed and snuck a peek at Jensen. "How about tomorrow? Jen and I are finally out for fun."

Jensen patted Jared's arm. "It's okay. Swing by the station and give Chad eight minutes."

"Eight minutes, Chad. Got it?"

"Cross my pirate-loving heart." 

*click*

"I'm really sorry about this, man." Jared took the next right. "I'm setting the timer on my watch. At the eight-minute mark, I am out of there."

"Well, I might want to, I don't know…" Jensen bit his lip.

"What? Hey, I just realized that you haven't been back to the station yet." Jared grinned wide. "Let's surprise your friends and co-workers by suddenly showing up. And you _walking in_. Oh my God, Jensen, that would be awesome." Jared's knees were bouncing, even the one on the accelerator. "I know they would love to see you. Do you want to? Do you feel up to it?"

"I think I do." Jensen said, surprised.

"Then let's do it." Jared swung right again and picked up the pace.

  


"You never intended for us to get ice cream, did you?"

"Nope." Jared's eyes glittered. 

"And you did this in such a way, that our coming here," Jensen waved his hands, "seemed like my idea?"

"Yes, and it's at your peril lest you forget how smart a genius I am." 

Jensen adjusted his golden party crown, up over his eyes to glare at Jared.

The music selection changed from the Scorpion's _Rock You Like a Hurricane_ to Jimi Hendrix singing _The Wind Cries Mary_. 

The entire news crew and staff from WBB (sans the Marks and Dick IT team), and Jared's tech team had amassed at the studio to surprise Jensen and celebrate his homecoming. 

Big Jim Beaver was there with some guy Jared had never seen before, but he was told gave the market report and whose name was Alexander. 

Genevieve, wearing glittery black leggings, a gray sleeveless silk shirt under a black leather bomber jacket, and motorcycle boots, seemed very interested in what Alexander was saying. 

Amidst the food, drinks and music, Jared felt a wave of grateful affection and shared happiness. When Jensen crutched his way into WBB, they all, finally heaved a collective sigh of relief.

Even Alaina Huffman was dancing in the cleared-out computer console room. She and Misha made a surprisingly handsome couple. 

"Jensen, Jensen, look over here, look over _here_." Osric hopped up on a high stool, having had completed tacking up a banner saying: 

**Whether it was Monday, Wednesday or Sunday, every moment was boring and gloomy when you were away. We missed you, Jensen.**

That was in addition to the one that read: **The cocoNUTS at WBB are glad you're home, Jensen!**

And:

**_Come back, come back, back to Jamaica  
Don't chu know we made a big mistaica  
We'd be so sad if you told us good-bye  
And we promise not to shoot you out of the sky.  
We Missed You, Cap'n JenBird!_ **

Jensen gave Osric a thumbs-up from sidelines where he sat watching his friends lurch and flail for what was passing for dancing. Dancing was off the table for him for at least several more months. Jared saw that Jensen's glass was empty. "Hey, I'll get you a refill."

"Thanks," he smiled. "Iced tea, please." 

Joe Cocker started growling out that _There's a Storm Coming._

"With one sugar and extra ice. Got it." Jared stood.

"Oh, and ask Chad to come over. I want to talk to him."

Jared blinked a couple of times, "Okay."

Jared gave Chad the message, and if Jensen wanted a private conversation, he didn't expressly say so, so Jared remained within earshot.

"Hey, Jensen. How you doing, man? Were you surprised that we surprised you?"

Jensen held out his hand. Chad squinted at it before reaching out with his. Jensen firmly shook Chad's hand and said, "Thank you for being Jared's friend and supporting him through all this. I was in no shape to be any comfort when _he_ needed someone, and you were. You were there for him. You let him lean on you, and you gave him the emotional strength and," Jensen swallowed before continuing, "hope he needed to carry on through the dark days. _You_ held him together and took care of him when I couldn't. And, for that, I will be forever grateful to you." 

Chad was silent. Jared's eyes watered, but he blinked hard and shouldered his way back to them.

"Here's your drink," Jared said with fake peppiness.  
.  
"So, uh, Jensen," Chad sniffed and scratched his nose. "Did you know that the average cloud, even though it looks light and fluffy, weighs over a million pounds?"

"That's a whole lot of cloud," Jensen smiled. "Adds up to almost a hundred Asian elephants."

"Whoa, shit, man. You know about weather and elephants?"

"He's a keeper," Jared said.

Milli Vanilli had just stopped blaming it on the rain when Jimmy Buffett began crooning Tryin' to Reason With Hurricane Season.

They all took sips from their respective drinks when Jensen began humming. Then he looked at Chad and sang softly, "And now I must confess, I could use some rest. I can't run at this pace very long."

Chad smiled and joined in, "Yes, it's quite insane. I think it hurts my brain."

They sang the chorus in sweet harmony. "But it cleans me out, then I can go on."

"Oh, and Jensen?"

"Yes, Cap'n ChadBird?

"You didn't have to thank me for that." He winked. "Not even a little bit." 

Katie walked up, but before she spoke, Chad took her by the arm and said, "Dance with me m'lady?"

"Okay, sure."

And they wandered off to dance to Bruno Mars predicting that _It Will Rain_.

"You doing okay?" Jared asked, placing his arm around Jensen's shoulders.

"I am, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't think I'm going to be coming back here. I feel like my time here is over and I'm ready to move forward."

"With me, I hope." Jared nudged his shoulder.

"Of course, with you." Jensen took Jared's hand. 

"You know," Jared squeezed Jensen's hand. "I've been thinking that after we get back from Venezuela, we should see for ourselves if East Carolina University still stands in Greenville, North Carolina. That way, you'll get to forecast rather than broadcast the weather."

"Do you think I could do it?"

"I know you can." Jared kissed Jensen's knuckles. 

Jensen looked down and swiped at his eyes. Without looking up, he said, "When was the last time I told you that you were the best boyfriend ever?"

"I think it was around Lard Have Mercy." Jared ruffled Jensen's hair.

"Oh man, those fried, bacon-wrapped chicken strips were the best." He leaned in and kissed Jared softly. "I love you, you know."

"I want to thank y'all for coming in to celebrate Jensen's return to the station," Big Jim boomed. "Much as I'da liked to keep dancin' and drinkin', some of us gotta go back ta work. But it would be shoddy of me, and not to mention rude, not to single out my friend Osric for setting the stage, amassing the crowd, bringing in the food and getting the decorations, including that crown you're wearin', son." He pointed at Jensen.

"Let's give him a round of applause for his hard work."

The station got loud with whooping and hollering. Osric blushed when they all began clapping like fools. 

Except Jensen. Jensen was looking at his hands with dismay.

"What's wrong?" Jared asked.

"I, uh, I don't know. Something is keeping me from clapping." He looked up wildly. "I'm _afraid_ to clap. Why am I afraid to clap?"

A lump formed in Jared's throat that he had to clear before saying, "Because I told you not to."

Jensen cocked his head to the side quizzically. "You what?"

"When you were in the hospital, I told you not to clap because you were holding my heart in your hands."

Jensen grinned. "No way."

Jared nodded. "I told you never to clap, but it's okay, now. You're here with me, and we're planning a future together. So, go ahead and applaud. I trust you with my heart now."

Jensen shook his head. "We actually are MFEO, you know."

"I know," Jared gave Jensen a lop-sided grin. "We are such nerds."

Then, they clapped.

  


"Come on, Jared. Let's do it again. The ceremony is in two days." Jensen banged his cane on the floor for emphasis.

"Are you sure that there's only four stairs to get up onto stage?" Jared asked.

"Yes, yes, yes, and I want to practice because I don't want to look like I'm drunk going up to accept my award." Jensen banged his cane again.

"Bitchy, bitchy, bitchy." Jared shook his head.

"Call me that all you want, but I intend to make a good impression on my boyhood hero." Jensen blushed furiously. "Can you believe they got Bryan Norcross to give me a _medal_?"

Of course, Jared could believe it. Unbeknownst to Jensen, Jared had made a personal written plea to the awards committee requesting that Bryan Norcross be the presenter. Plus, he paid to have railings constructed on both sides of the steps Jensen would have to climb to get on the stage.

"Up and at 'em, Jay. Let's go again."

"Okay, okay. Remember what your therapist said. Up with the good foot, down with the bad."

"I don't have a good foot," Jensen huffed. And dear God, how Jared adored that huff.

"So, go up with the bad foot and go down with the terrible one. Are you sure you don't want to use your crutches, because I can hand them to you when you get up on stage?"

Jensen thought a second. "No, I want to use the cane. Even though I have a little trouble getting my balance with I first stand up, I'm okay after that. I think it'll actually be easier than crutches for the stairs."

"All righty then. Let's take it from the top, or, well, the bottom." Jared looked around. "Wait a minute, where's Medardus? I don't want you tripping over her."

"DJ came by to get her. He said Scout missed her." Jensen laughed. "DJ has always wanted me to get a dog so we could have play dates. I don't have the heart to tell him that kidnapping my dog does not count as a play date."

"Our dog. Meddie is our dog." 

"Our dog," Jensen conceded.

One day last month, Jared came home and found Jensen and DJ playing with two balls of fur in the living room. Scout was play-bowing beside Jensen's wheelchair, and this cute little brown and white girl was sitting in his lap. They had just gotten back from _The Last Chance Rescue_ and Jared fell instantly in love with Meddie's one brown ear and two brown paws. 

"So, let's do this." Jared indicated the staircase.

Jensen made it up and down four steps without a snag, and when he reached the bottom, he raised his arms in victory shouting, "Boo-Ya!"

Fortunately, Jared was close enough to grab him before he landed on his ass.

"Except for the almost-fall just now," Jared rolled his eyes, "I think you're ready, man. Hardly even a hitch in your stride. How do you feel?"

"I feel good." Jensen walked over to the breakfast bar and sat. "Barely a twinge, I still need to get stronger, but I feel good."

By habit, Jared kissed the top of his head before sitting next to him. "Bryan will be impressed, but you'd better not forget who you came with." Jared smiled his 1000-watt smile. "And who's taking you home."

"I won't forget." Jensen stroked Jared's arm, "Besides, Bryan is way too old for me." He leaned in, "And you aren't," and tried to kiss Jared's left dimple off before sucking on Jared's tongue. 

"No," Jared said, standing with intent. "In fact, I'm younger than you." 

He pulled Jensen to stand. Hugging him gently but firmly, Jared crowded him up against the wall, "I think a little dynamic standing practice is in order." He held him tight while he ravaged Jensen's lips and tongue. 

Jared came up for air. "You know, so you won't get out of practice."

They turned in each other's arms, Jared bearing some of Jensen's weight, until Jensen pushed Jared into the kitchen chair and sat across his lap, sidesaddle. 

"I think some dynamic sitting balance," Jensen bounced lightly in Jared's lap, "is in order as well."

Jensen dug his fingers into Jared's hair and aimed Jared's head just so. The attack Jensen made with his lips, teeth and tongue was what legends were made of.

"You are so fucking sexy," Jared gasped. "Like a fucking sexy sex machine."

"Boy, how I've missed your sweet talk." Jensen dove in for another round, and God, the things he was doing to him drove Jared insane. 

"I can't wait, man." Jared worked his own tongue down Jensen's neck and up behind his ear.

"Can't wait for what?" Jensen asked, nipping at Jared's collarbone.

"You know," Jared pulled Jensen's tee shirt up and attacked, his left nipple, circling and sucking madly. The little whimpers Jensen made were angel music.

"What do I know?" Jensen returned the attack by pulling Jared's green tank top up over his head and leaving small bites down his chest. 

Jared did some musical whimpering of his own.

"You know when we can…" Jared pressed his tongue into Jensen's mouth, using the tip to outline the bumps and ridges of Jensen's teeth and gums until they both came up for air. 

"Oh, you mean go to the windfarm," Jensen panted before pouncing.

Jared advanced, then pulled back. "Go to the windfarm? No, no, that's not what I meant at all."

Jensen's cheeks were adorably flushed and his eyes were shining. "Have sex, I mean."

Jared scrunched his eyebrows together, then remembered that Jensen's mind had wandered to the Biglow Canyon windfarm during one of their first sexual encounters. He barked a laugh. 

"Yes, have sex, I mean."

Jared suddenly felt shy, but he wanted to ask, "Do you think it would hurt if we made love?"

Jensen's head whipped around. _"If?"_

"I mean, I'll be gentle and will, of course, stop if anything feels bad, but, man, you look so good right now and taste so good right now, and I'd really like to put my mouth all over you."

"You would, huh?" Jensen's boyish grin turned into something decidedly steamier.

"Yeah. Right now." Jared loomed large. "You, lying there naked, on my nice cool sheets, and me, tasting you everywhere."

Jensen cocked his head sideways. "I can't see how that could hurt."

"We could incorporate both static and dynamic transitional movements into the mix."

"And then we would have sex, right?" Jensen asked.

"Give the word." Jared wrapped his arms around Jensen and helped him stand. 

Jensen nipped small kisses along Jared's face and worked his way up to his ear. "The word is given."

There was a decided advantage to having the master bedroom on the first floor. Jared hooked one arm around Jensen, and hooked Jensen's cane around the other and brought them all into the bedroom. 

Jensen sat on the edge of the bed watching Jared strip naked. 

"Jesus," Jensen said. "Talk about a sexy sex machine."

Jared dropped to his knees and crawled between Jensen's legs. Jensen used his hands to heft his right leg over to give Jared more room. Jared immediately got to work on removing Jensen's shirt.

"When is DJ coming back?"

"Late, late, very late." Jensen pulled both arms out of the sleeves.

"I want you naked." Jared said, undoing Jensen's belt buckle and relieving him of his jeans and briefs. Nothing was sexier to Jared than Jensen naked except for his socks. 

Jared nuzzled the curls surrounding Jensen's hardening cock. Jensen lay back on his elbows to watch. 

"Wait, here, let me." Jared lifted Jensen's legs, spun him around and propped him up against the headboard with pillows behind him. 

"You're good at this manhandling thing." Jensen lay back against the pillows and bent his knees up and out.

Jensen's cock was now fully hard, and his face was flushed. There was the barest circle of green in his eyes as he licked his lips and waited.

Jared had seen a lot of naked Jensen over the past months. Up until recently he had to help him toilet, bathe and dress. But today, he let himself stare.

Jensen had lost a fair amount of weight and muscle mass. His skin was pasty white from being out of the sun, and there were pink/red scars crisscrossing his body. Jared kissed them one by one. 

_He may never walk without a limp. He will always feel the weather in his bones._

He slowly worked his way up and down the healed surgical incisions crossing his chest and ribs.

_No blood in his chest anymore, his spleen is whole, the broken ribs and pelvis are all healed._

His hand cradled Jensen's head and his thumb caressed his hairline where the twelve stitches had scarred over. 

_No blood on his face. No bruising. No swelling. Only my beautiful, beautiful boy._

"Jared." 

Jared kissed down Jensen's right hip to his knee, paying special attention to where Dr. Brown had twice repaired the damage. Feather light touches of his lips to the mottled skin of his back that had been shredded off but healed now to a healthy pink.

_The skin looks burned and thin. But no pain, no pain, so I don't care._

"Jay? Come on, come up here."

Jared smoothed his hands over the fractured ankle.

_His ankle will always pain him when the weather is damp. He's been through so much._

… and kissed along the right elbow, wrist and hand. Salty wet streaks were left in his wake and he wrapped his arms around Jensen and sobbed softly with his head on Jensen's chest. 

"Oh, no. No more." Jensen said, harshly. "That's enough of that, Jared, and not enough of _this_." 

Using his strong left arm, Jensen pushed Jared off and rolled him to his side. Jensen snuck up behind and pressed his hard cock under Jared's balls and between Jared's legs and pumped his hips. 

Jared was stunned by how, in the blink of an eye, his mood transformed from brooding and sad to wanting and horny.

"Holy shit, Jensen. How did you do that?" he moaned as Jensen's hard-on pressed relentlessly against Jared's hole and balls. 

"It's at your peril lest you forget that I've been lifting weights with that arm for four months." Jensen bit down on the back of Jared's neck. 

Jared thrust backwards seeking out the friction of Jensen's cock. "I did, I did," Jared panted. "My peril, my peril."

Jensen wrapped his arms around Jared's chest and pinched his nipples before reaching down to take Jared's cock firmly in hand. 

"Well don't forget again, Oh, and Jared?"

"Shit, what, Jensen? What?" Jared pumped his dick into Jensen's hand.

"I ain't gonna break. I did that already. Now where's the lube?"

Jared moaned, ran his hand under his pillow and slapped a small bottle into Jensen's hand.

Jensen's smooth, moist hands were pulling and tugging at Jared's dick in a way that made Jared's eyes cross. 

"Squeeze your legs together," Jensen panted into Jared's ear. 

Jared obliged and felt Jensen's lubed erection pumping in and out between them, running a delicious friction against Jared's balls and ass.

Jensen pulled Jared back against him and continued his punishing rhythm until he felt Jensen stiffen and gasp, "Yesss."

Jensen came hot and hard between Jared's legs, shooting all over Jared's thighs, ass and nice, cool sheets. 

Jared was caught by surprise by the sheer hotness of it, that he grabbed his own hard-on and had his way with himself, adding his load to Jensen's on his stomach. 

Heavy panting and the gurgling of the Keurig in the bathroom were the only sounds in the bright mid-afternoon bedroom.

"Wow, Jen. I didn't know you were a take-charge kind of guy. "

"I _know_." Jensen winked. "I'm awesome."

Jensen rolled on his back and Jared rolled onto his. They turned and stared at each other.

"I feel so naughty," Jensen giggled.

"Give me ten minutes to recoup and I'll show you what naughty _really_ feels like," Jared said, grinning.

"I needed to take the edge off before we got down to business. Now, we can take our time, because, uh," Jensen cleared his throat and turned away. 

"What?"

"Well, I can't get up on my knees yet, or be too athletic. But we can work with the side-lying, right?"

"You'd better believe it, and I hate to call you a liar, but you were pretty athletic just now."

Jensen shrugged, proudly. "I don't want you to have to relive the accident when you look at my scars. Do you think you could try to put it behind us and not make it a ghost in our bed?"

"I can try." Jared nudged closer and kissed Jensen's nose, then his eyes, then the scar on his forehead. "Not all the way yet, but someday I will. Especially if every time I see your scars, some kind of hot sex is involved."

"You drive a hard bargain, tech guy." 

"I have layers, Jen. Architectural abstraction layers, but layers nonetheless. I also have meta elements, semantic elements and structural elements…"

Jensen shut him up by sucking on Jared's tongue. After coming up for air, Jensen asked, "D'ya think maybe you could stop geeking out long enough to fuck me?" 

Jared leered, " _That_ I can do."

He rolled Jensen gently onto his left side and moved behind him. He propped pillows around Jensen's legs to help keep his thighs open. Jensen grabbed the headboard with both hands and tested its strength. 

"All systems are go, Jay. Let the thunder roll and the lightning strike."

"I am the God of Thunder," Jared replied, pouring lube into his hand. "And rock and roll."

Jensen barely flinched as Jared stroked across Jensen's hole with a wet, probing finger. Pressing in gently past the first ring of muscle, Jared felt when Jensen relaxed into it. 

Jared gently crooked his finger before adding a second one. Jensen sighed, "Keep it rolling, keep it rolling."

Finally, three fingers deep up to the second knuckle. Jared worked more lube and began a pumping rhythm. 

"Ready. I'm ready already." Jensen said pumping back into Jared's fingers. "Do it."

Jared stopped long enough to remove his fingers and apply pressure to slow down his own enthusiastic erection. He slid his hand way under his pillow and came back with a condom which he hurriedly applied. 

"Ready?" Jared panted, pushing in slowly. "Tell me to stop if it gets too much." 

Although Jared wasn't sure he could actually stop at this point.

Jared heard Jensen snicker before he groaned loud and long. He had forgotten how loud Jensen could get. Music to his ears. 

"God Jay, hold up a minute."

Jared stopped his progress waiting for Jensen to adjust. "You okay?" he croaked.

"Yeah, doing good. Just waiting for my bones to stop creaking. Jesus, you're big."

Jared held still before stuttering, "Don't, don't let me hurt you."

"Won't. Doing okay, now take it home." Jensen pushed back as Jared moved forward until fully seated. 

A calm came over Jared as he lay there as close to another person as one could get. A contentment that had nothing to do with sex washed through him. Jensen let out a breath ending on a chuckle.

"Something funny, dude?" Jared smirked.

"No, not funny, not exactly, I just, I just," Jensen hesitated. "I feel like I'm home. Okay? God, now, I sound like the sap." Jensen pumped his hips carefully then nodded. "You're rubbing off on me."

"No, not today, today I'm fucking you, and I don't think you can possibly out-sap me, sweetheart." Jared pumped back, with intent, this time. "You good?"

"I'm good." Jensen pushed back twice as hard. "Move."

Taking that as the challenge it was, Jared let loose, still mindful of Jensen's creaky bones. Jensen held onto the headboard like the Titanic was sinking. Rocking up and down with the crashing waves as Jared shifted and swayed. Jared took Jensen's cock in hand and began a punishing rhythm. 

"Yes, Jay, yes. There, there," Jensen muttered. "Right there, right _there_."

As the wave crested, Jensen let go of the headboard and arched back in almost a perfect bow. 

Jensen looked surprised as he shuddered, coming hard into Jared's hand. Jared worked him through it and then set his own course. Perhaps not as carefully as he first intended, Jared pumped hard into Jensen one, two, three, and closing his eyes as his orgasm overtook his senses.

They both lay unmoving for many hours, or seconds. Jared wasn't sure.

"Wow," Jensen panted. "Sex good."

"Sex fantastic," Jared agreed. 

Jensen hissed as Jared pulled out. Tying off the condom, Jared walked to the bathroom for a warm washcloth and an even warmer towel. 

Jensen lay back letting Jared clean and warm him. His eyes were sleepy, but happy when he said, "Best. Boyfriend. Ever."

"And you said that without me feeding you fried chicken tenders." Jared rolled Jensen on his side and wrapped his arms around him. 

Jared felt Jensen yawn, deep and sleepy. "You know what?" Jensen mumbled.

"What?"

"We did it, Jay."

"Yes, I know. I was right here."

"No, I mean we weathered this storm and made it through the rain. Together. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You'll never have to know, because I'm always going to be here."

Jensen cuddled closer.

"You, know," Jared ran his fingers through Jensen's hair, "I never told you this, but PMC had a choice of two jobs when we signed on at WBB. We didn't have enough manpower for both, so it was up to me to decide which contract to take. I knew you were the weatherman at the station, and way out of my league," he scratched the top of Jensen's head, "but the prospect of working on upgrading all the weather feeds coming into the station was the reason I chose WBB. I didn't expect to find the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

Jensen closed his eyes and hummed.

"Jensen, meeting you, knowing you, and loving you are the best things that have ever happened to me. While there are bound to be bad times, I know that the good times will always outweigh them. Right? Jensen?" 

Jared rose up on his elbow and looked over to see Jensen drooling on the pillow sound asleep.

"Guess your stamina still needs work, huh?"

~~*~~*~~  


"Bryan Norcross gave me a medal, Jared. A _medal_." Jensen waved the box with his Civilian Medal of Valor.

Meddie Ackles-Padalecki wagged her brown-tipped tail and bounded over to the patio door.

"I know," Jared scratched her ears before letting her out. "That was awesome."

"And I got a pink rose for admiration and appreciation. Those kids and their teacher said I saved their _lives_."

"I know," Jared said, proudly. "You're their hero."

"And Scout was in the front _row_ with us. How cool is that? They made an exception for Scout to be there in the auditorium."

"I _know_." Jared nodded. "He was very well behaved."

"I know you know! Give me a break. I'm still excited and basking in the afterglow of the event, and if you can't handle it, then," Jensen raised a hand, "Be gone before somebody drops a house on you, too."

Jared stilled, suddenly speechless.

"Too soon?" Jensen asked, gently.

"A little," he admitted. 

"It's too bad that mom couldn't make it, but I'm sure you took enough pictures to make her feel like she was there." Jensen hobbled over and reverently placed the box with his medal on the mantlepiece. 

"So many pictures," Jared agreed.

"You're the best." Jensen turned and shot him a smile without a number. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"I could eat." He let a bouncing Medardus inside, where she flopped on the rug looking cute. Jared had taught her not to jump on Jensen.

"You can _always_ eat," Jensen joked, reaching down to scratch under her chin. "Hey Meddiegirl, how're you doing, pretty puppy?" 

Meddie's tail slapped the floor with gusto. 

"How's this good girl? Who's a good girl? Meddie's a good girl. Your daddies are going to go out and eat, but we'll come right back. Is that okay, girl? Is that okay? You're a pretty girl, you know that? Meddie's a real pretty girl."

This went on for several minutes while Jared waited patiently.

"So," Jensen finally said. "What do you feel like? _Lord of the Fries? Juan in a Million? A Salt & Battery?_"

"I could go for some seafood. How about _The Codfather_?"

"No, I had some bad haddock there last time. How about pizza at _Cheesy Does It_."

"Not feeling like pizza. We could get those roasted chicken breasts at _Poultrygeist_."

"How can you not feel like pizza?" Jensen asked. "How can _anyone_ not feel like pizza?"

"Or…" Jared said with a smile.

"Or?"

"The new restaurant on Park Place. _Thai Me Up_." 

"I can't see how a restaurant with that name could be bad."

"Yeah, they took over _Thai Tanic_. So, what do you say? _Thai Me Up_?" 

"Any time, big boy," Jensen purred, reaching for his cane. 

"Hey, Jared?"

"Mmm?"

"I heard what you said when I fell asleep after the sex."

"You did, huh?" Jared put his arm around Jensen. "The part about needing to build up your stamina?"

"My stamina?" Jensen's eyebrows knitted together. "Actually, I don't remember that part." 

"Then, what part?" 

Jensen hugged both arms around Jared's waist. "Loving you, is the best thing I have ever done in my life. I still pinch myself sometime to see if I'm going to wake up, because you are my dream everything."

Jensen turned Jared's face, angled it carefully, and kissed him thoroughly. 

"You're right," Jared said. "You _can_ out-sap me." 

"Shut up." Jensen said heading for the garage. 

"Hey, there's something I've always wanted to know." Jared unlocked the car doors. 

"What?"

"In Star Trek: TOS, in _Amok Time,_ during Spock's Pon farr…"

"When they fought Vulcan style with the lirpa and the ahn woon?" Jensen got into the passenger side. "I loved the way T'Pau said "aahn voon."

"Yeah, do you think Dr. McCoy did it on purpose? You know, gave Kirk the shot to make up for the air so he'd pass out and fake die?" Jared backed out of the garage and aimed towards _Thai Me Up._

"Are you kidding me?" Jensen was momentarily verklempt. "Of course, it was on purpose. I can't believe you'd think that Dr. McCoy would've been that inept, Jared. I mean, _seriously?_ I mean he was a doctor, not a climatologist, but still…"

To Jared, if felt like they were walking on sunshine on Just Another Blindingly Bright Late Afternoon in Coconut Bay. And _damn_ , don't it feel good.

~~~fin~~~

  


gif by [2blueshoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/2blueshoes) from the original story [Marconi Plays the Mamba](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19243636/chapters/45760189%22)

**Author's Note:**

>   
> 
> 
> A big, big thanks to my artist bluefire986 who did a wonderful job illustrating the emotions of the story. Please check out her work for this story [HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Supernatural_and_J2_Big_Bang_2020/works/24931246)
> 
>  **A/N 4.** At first, I tinkered with the idea of adding the rescue and recovery to the original story, but it was a bit more serious than I anticipated. So, I decided I would write a 7000 to 9000 word timestamp to fill in the four months. As you see, it turned into its own Big Bang.  
> Not sorry.
> 
> ~~*~~*~~  
> Star Trek TOS= The Original Series
> 
> [ Privacy Rules](https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/faq/483/does-hipaa-permit-hospitals-to-inform-visitors-about-a-patients-location/index.html)
> 
> [Catatumbo Lightning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning)
> 
> **Music Links**  
> 
> 
> [I Made it Through the Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXpKeDi4hAI)  
> [Walking On Sunshine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U)  
> [Don't Give Up On Us Baby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aH3H1auHcA)  
> [Rock You Like a Hurricane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGfKi6kpdTQ)  
> [Wind Cries Mary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYAcB_Ph7DM)  
> [There's a Storm Coming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY2Dgr0UPw4)  
> [Blame It On the Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI5IA8assfk)  
> [Tryin' To Reason With Hurricane Season](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nqH4-amR88)  
> [It Will Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-w3WfgpcGg)  
> [Have I Told You Lately That I Love You-Rod Steward version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doCIvWFEgN4)  
> [Have I Told You Lately That I Love You-Van Morrison version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFF1wJN75Z0)


End file.
